Tsukumogami War
by Twilight Kyu
Summary: Takes place in an alternate universe. Kyuu is a mystery otaku who dreams to be a detective until he gets himself involved in a mysterious war known as the Tsukumogami War connecting to a bizarre case of murders. FEAT. multiple crossovers.
1. The Dawning Night

Welcome to my newest fic, **Tsukumogami War**!

This fic still features characters from Detective School Q, but it actually takes place in an alternate universe. I will be borrowing the storyline from the anime version only with a few twists.

It's also feature crossovers from both existing characters and OCs from different authors, but the story will focus more on the main characters, Kyuu and his Tsukumogami spirits, and a mysterious Original Character and his Tsukumogami Spirits.

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own I don't own some of characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There are also OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

**-/-**

"_At daylight, you are safe, but at nighttime, you are in danger._

_The night is where people known as Summoners obtain mysterious beings known as the Tsukumogami spirits. They are ordinary people during the day, but they are Summoners at night. Every night, they engage in a war among themselves for a certain 'gift' that might change their life forever. The winner will stay in the war while the loser will be disqualified from the war. _

_However, it is said that a Summoner does not kill an ordinary person that is not involve in the war. That soon change when a string of mysterious murders begin to take place during the war._

_The murders soon haunt the city where the war takes place._

_What truth lies within the shadows of the night?  
>The answer lies within the war of the Summoners.<em>

_This war is known as… _

_The Tsukumogami War"_

**-/-**

**Tokyo, Japan**

It was late at night in the lone street,  
>the full moon was bright and there weren't too many people strolling around that street.<p>

Nothing came out of the ordinary until a strange noise was heard. A man in his late 30s was found dead in the alley; the man's torso has been cut by something sharp. The murderer was nowhere to be found in the street indicating that whoever killed the poor man has already left the scene mysteriously…

**-x-**

**Opening Theme: Wild Fang (by Janne De Arc)**

_(Opening instrumental)_

[Scenes of Kyuu Renjo and a mysterious boy named Yomi in the streets at night; a close-up view of Tokyo with Summoners spreading all over the city]_  
>Togisumasareta tsume wo tate<br>Ima kagayaku tame ni sono  
>kiba wo muke<em>

[Enemy Summoners surround Kyuu and Yomi as Kyuu suddenly raises a card to summon Dark Magician Girl into battle and attacks the enemies]_  
>Shiren wa norikoerarenai<br>Hito ni osoikakari wa shinai_

**-/Tsukumogami War\-  
>XXXXXXX<strong>

[Dark Magician Girl stands behind Kyuu as Kyuu look at her who is smiling back him; Yomi watches the city at night as a crow lands on his left shoulder]_  
>Tsukuri warai… Sono mama na no?<br>Shiawase na no? Uso wa nai?_

[Shadowy images of Megumi Minami, Kazumi Asakura, Fuyuki Hinata, Rin Tohsaka, Kyon, Haruhi Suzumiya, Yuki Nagato, Nina Sakura, Tamaki, Suoh, and an unknown boy]  
><em>Tojikomete shimau koto ga<br>Kashikoku ikiru koto ja nai_

[Dark Magician Girl is alone in a mysterious sanctuary as she sees a ghostly figure of her previous 'master' until she suddenly snaps back to reality and finds herself in Kyuu's house]  
><em>Migi ni narae… Sore de ii no?<br>Sore ja tada no kikai ja nai?_

[Close-up views of Konoka Konoe, Tamaki, Rin Tohsaka, Kyon, and Yomi]  
><em>Tsumetai karada no naka no<br>atsui tamashii wo yobisamase_

[A Summoner summons White Night Dragon and orders it to attack another Summoner]  
><em>Daremo mina mune no oku ni<em>

[Located in the city at night, Konoka summons Head Huntress while Fuyuki summons Abe no Seimei, Kazumi summons Justimon while Yuki summons Deoxys, Tamaki summons Baldr while Nina summons Mystical Elf, an unknown boy summons Blackwing Armor Master while a man with an eye patch summons Tigrex]_  
>nemuru "yasei" wo yadoshiteru<br>Toki ni wa kusari hazushite_

[Kyuu summons Dark Magician Girl while Yomi summons Bahamut]  
><em>Chi wo nagase!<em>

[Kyuu's Tsukumogami Spirits (Dark Magician Girl and two shadowy figures) attack enemy Summoners' spirits as Yomi orders Bahamut attack a Summoner that summons Godzilla]  
><em>Togisumasareta tsume wo tate<br>Ima kagayaku tame ni sono  
>kiba wo muke<em>

[Kyuu (Dark Magician Girl) and Yomi (Haseo) face two unknown Summoners with their Tsukumogami Spirits, Predator and Dark Necrofear]  
><em>Hadaka ni natte tokihanateba<br>Kanashimi mo keseru_

[Kyuu and Yomi use their respective Spell Cards to obtain their 'weapons' as they fight other with their Tsukumogami Spirits by their side]  
><em>Sukoshi hamidashitemo kamawanai<br>Kimi wa kimi no tame ni  
>gamushara ni nare<em>

[Close-up view of Kyuu and his Tsukumogami Spirits (Dark Magician Girl and two unknown Tsukumogamis) with Yomi and his Tsukumogami Spirits (Haseo, Yatagarasu, and Bahamut) before it changes to the view of the city]_  
>Shiren wa norikoerarenai<br>Hito ni osoikakari wa shinai_

**-x-**

_The next day…_

**3: 25 PM**

It is a sunny day at a certain school where students are doing their everyday activity such as study for graduation or hang out with friends.

Right now, school is over as most of the students quickly exit the school in excitement.

Among the students is a certain 15 years old boy who has black hair (with a small white colored hair in the middle). The boy constantly fails his grades is having a meeting with his teacher at her office. The teacher is clearly disappointed with the young boy as she shows the boy's reports. His grades are extremely low that he ranks the lowest in his class.

"Why don't you ever study?" The teacher sighs in a disappointed tone, "Well… You see…" The boy quietly said whilst he chuckles nervously, "Honestly? Schoolwork isn't really my thing."

The teacher sighs again.

"If you'd work hard, you could really do better than you think."  
>"Hehe… I'm kinda flattered you'd say that."<p>

"You're already in your last year of middle school and you've got your finals coming up too," the teacher said to the young boy, "Can I ask what high school you've chosen to attend… Kyuu?"

The boy named _**Kyuu**_ cheerfully smiles as the boy tells his teacher that he actually wants… to be a detective!

**-/-**

**Chapter 1: The Dawning War  
><strong>**-/-**

After the meeting with his teacher, Kyuu walks through the school's hallway with his three classmates and they are much taller than he is. One of them is a boy wearing glasses named Satoru, the other one has brown hair named Yusuke, and the last one is tallest and slightly fat named Daisuke.

"Kyuu, seriously? You've declared your career choice? THAT career?" Kyuu's friend, Satoru, asks, which Kyuu cheerfully said, "Yep!"  
>"And the teacher! What did she say?" Kyuu's other friend, Yusuke, also asks. "She was so dumbfounded that she was frozen stiff," Kyuu said back to his friend.<p>

The two boys are confused about Kyuu's choice of career though Daisuke seems to have no problem with the boy's decision.

As they continue walking, the boys notice that their female classmates are right in front of them. They are Mizuki, the short black-haired, and Yumi, the long blonde-haired.

The girls happen to overhear their conversation when Mizuki asks Satoru what he meant about 'THAT career.'

"Kyuu… Isn't gonna take the high school entrance exams. He's going to be a detective," Satoru said to the girls, which the girls are completely surprised. The two girls immediately approach Kyuu and they ask the boy if he's really serious about, which Kyuu cheerfully smiles and said that he is serious about his choice of career.

"So… You're not taking the entrance exams?" Yumi kindly asks.  
>"Yep," Kyuu cheerfully said back.<p>

"I made my decision a long time ago!" Kyuu excitedly said as he grips his right hand, "I'm going to be the Number One detective in the world! I really think I was born to be a detective!"

His friends stare at the boy in dotted pupils in confusion. It isn't long when they start to snicker as it slowly turn into laughter. Kyuu, being oblivious by their laughter, stares back at his friends in his eyes wide as Yusuke slaps the boy by his back, "Geez, Kyuu, you're such a child!" Yusuke laughs, "You've been an idiot since birth, haven't you?"

"You've been watching too much TV, man!" Satoru adds while laughing at the poor Kyuu. Mizuki also laughs at Kyuu finding that his antics are hilarious, but Yumi, on the other hand, finds it cute.

"You know what? From what I've heard, they just investigate cheating couples and find missing pets," Satoru said gloating at the boy. Satoru tells Kyuu that it's just a waste of time and Kyuu should choose another career until he notices that the boy is staring at a window. "Hey Kyuu! Don't just disappear like that!" Satoru angrily said, but Kyuu ignores his friend.

"What's wrong, man?" Kyuu's other friend, Daisuke, asks.  
>Kyuu is actually staring at a certain poster of table tennis club that is attached on the window. "Don't you think this is a bit weird?" Kyuu asks as his friends approach him. "What's up with this poster?" Mizuki asks.<br>Kyuu points at the corners and his friends notice that the corners are slightly ripped.

Kyuu suddenly looks down the ground and notices a small piece of glass lying on the floor. Not only that, the piece is close to the window's position. "Oh… I get it now!" Kyuu optimistically smiles. The detective freak quickly touches the poster much to his friends' confusion until he suddenly takes the poster off.

When the poster is taken off, they find that the window is actually broken!

"W-What the… It's broken!" both Mizuki and Daisuke are surprised to see the window broken as Kyuu explains that someone must have taken the poster from somewhere else to hide the broken window. However, the perpetrator accidentally rips the poster's corners off because they might be in a hurry.

"Ooh… I get it!" Daisuke said in awe.  
>"Wait a sec…" Mizuki said as she ponders about something that is connected with the broken window, "Then the 'ones' that broke it…" Mizuki suddenly points at both Satoru and Yusuke who are slowly sneaking their way out of the hall.<p>

"You guys were playing catch in the hallway yesterday, weren't you?" Mizuki asks the two boys.

"Ah… Well…" The boys nervously said as Yusuke stares at Kyuu with an annoyed expression but he keeps his smile up, "Kyuu! There's no reason for you to get into this!"

"Haha, just be honest and tell the teachers. They'll forgive you," Kyuu said to Yusuke and Satoru with a smile.

"But Kyuu, you really might be perfect as a detective," Yumi said with a smile knowing that Kyuu just prove his worth as an amateur, if not, a professional detective. "Hmm… She's probably right," Mizuki said as she folds her arms looking at the detective freak.

"Yeah, you're really sharp with stuff that people don't notice," Daisuke said with Satoru standing next to the tall student. "…Yeah… Annoyingly sharp…" Satoru mutters with an annoyed expression.

"But it's too bad; I was really hoping we'd go to the same high school… Since you're really funny…" Yumi sadly said.

-/-

As Kyuu and his friends continue to talk about the boy's dreams especially that he decides not to go to high school, two certain boys are passing by them.

"Have you heard about it?"  
>The boys are talking about the recent news. Apparently, there has been a murder this morning and it's related to the strange murders that the police are having trouble to solve.<p>

"Huh, they're talking about that 'Nighttime Murders,' isn't it?" Yusuke asks in an annoyed tone.  
>"Looks like it…" Daisuke replies.<p>

"It's really creepy… People being murdered at night and there were no witnesses. It's already three murders," Yumi said in a worried expression, "Yeah… Count four if you add the recent one," Mizuki adds.

Kyuu is silence when he hears about the recent murder.  
><em>"Another one…"<em> Kyuu thought as he lowers in head pondering about the mysterious murders, _"It's been a week since the first murder and they still haven't caught the killer? Whoever the killer is, he's certainly isn't an ordinary criminal. If only I can take a look at the victims' bodies, maybe I can help them catch the killer."_

Kyuu continues to ponder about the murders as Yumi quickly notices the boy.  
>"Kyuu, are you okay?" Yumi kindly asks.<p>

"Huh? Oh, sorry," Kyuu nervously said when he snaps back to reality. Both Satoru and Yusuke notice that Kyuu is pondering about something, which they quickly deduce that the boy is thinking about the murders. Worrying about Kyuu's safety, the two boys quickly approach Kyuu. "Kyuu… If you're thinking about solving the 'Nighttime Murders,' forget it!" they both shout.

"This ain't an ordinary case, it's a murder case! It's serious, man!" Satoru shouts at Kyuu much to the boy's confusion, "Yeah, it's not healthy for you, so you stay out of it!" Yusuke also shouts at Kyuu.

"…Oh, I almost forgot," Mizuki said as she quickly grabs Kyuu by his collar, "Kyuu, it's our turn for class duty. We have to stay for the afternoon."  
>"Eh? Class duty?" Kyuu asks in a disbelief tone, "But… I don't want to!"<p>

"Oh yes you are. Unless you want get punished by the teacher."

The boys and Yumi just watch Mizuki drags Kyuu back to the class as Daisuke asks Satoru and Yusuke if they want to go somewhere.

_Few hours later…_

"Finally… It's over," Kyuu said in a satisfied tone as he stretches his arms and legs.

He and some of his classmates finish their class duty so they're ready to go back to their respective homes. Some of the students look outside the window and they see that their class duty is actually longer than they expect as it's almost nighttime.

Just when Kyuu is about to exit the classroom, he overhears two girls talking about the recent murders that occur at night. "What? Seriously?" one of the girls asks in shocked expression, "Yeah, the victim was killed near Kyoko's house," the other girl said back to her friend.

"_Kyoko?"_ Kyuu is a little surprised about the recent murder's location, as the boy knows who Kyoko is. Kyoko Hachikawa is a shy, quiet girl who lives with her father, but her mother passed away a year ago due to lung cancer. Despite her shy nature, she is actually quite smart that she is one of the top students of the school.

Kyuu is a bit worried for Kyoko's safety since the police hasn't capture the killer yet until someone approaches the detective freak by calling his name. Kyuu looks behind only to see a girl with black hair and pigtail hairstyle. She is also two inches smaller than Kyuu and wears a necklace. "Oh, hi there, Kyoko-san," Kyuu waves toward the shy girl.

"Uuumm… Kyuu-san," the girl said in a soft tone while looking away from the boy.  
>"I'm sorry but… Can you come with me?" she suddenly said when she turns her head toward Kyuu. The mystery otaku is surprised when she said that thinking that Kyoko wants to date with the boy, but the shy girl explains that she's looking for a mystery novel for her father.<p>

Her father is a famous mystery writer who is famous for his greatest work, "The Last Night," which said to be the best selling mystery novel of last year. However, her father suffers a Writer's Block and he needs something to inspire him to write again.

Kyoko thought that if she gives her father the right mystery novel, it would help him to overcome his Writer's Block problem.

As Kyoko asks Kyuu for another favor, the boy quickly notices that his classmate, Mizuki, is still in the classroom watching the two conversing with each other. Mizuki smiles toward Kyuu when she thinks that the boy is going to end up with the shy girl, so she exits the classroom, but not before she gives Kyuu a thumbs-up wishing him luck.

Sighed and dismayed by Mizuki's action, Kyuu look away in shame as Kyoko asks him if he's okay.

"If you're too busy, I understand… I can-"  
>"No worries, I can come with you."<p>

"R-Really?" Kyoko asks in a shocked expression; Kyuu nods his head as a response much to her relieve.  
>"Thank you," Kyoko said with an enlightened expression.<p>

**Bookstore**

Kyuu and Kyoko arrive at the nearby bookstore.

Kyoko shows Kyuu the bookshelf that contains several mystery novels, but she doesn't know which novel that will help her father. "So… Any ideas, Kyuu-kun?" Kyoko politely asks.  
>Kyuu immediately examines the novels one by one. "How about this?" Kyuu picks up a certain book entitled '<strong>Kutsu<strong>' that might fit her father's taste.

"This?"  
>Kyoko is curious with Kyuu's choice of novels, so she asks the boy why he choose the mystery novel, <strong>Kutsu<strong>.  
>"Your dad's mystery novels have supernatural elements in the mix. Well, on the second part of the novel anyway. I figure that he might like something like this."<p>

"I see… Thank you," Kyoko kindly said with a smile knowing that she finally gets the right book for her father.

Kyoko intends to pay for the book with her own money, but she notices that the novel's price is ¥ 143 and she only has ¥135. The shy girl is dismayed that she doesn't have enough money to buy the novel until the boy gives her ¥ 8 startling the shy girl. "Go on," Kyuu said with a smile as he gives her his money, "B-But Kyuu-kun… I can't take your money," Kyoko said in a startled tone, but the boy insists on lending her his money. "Don't worry about it, Kyoko-san. After all, it's only ¥ 8," Kyuu cheerfully said.

The girl is reluctant to use Kyuu's money, but the boy still insists with it.  
>In other words, she has no choice but to accept his kindness when she finds it rude if she refuses it.<p>

The two approaches the cashier and pays for the mystery novel, Kutsu.  
>"Thank you again, Kyuu-kun," Kyoko said in a grateful tone as she bows to him in a kind manner. Kyuu gives an Okay Sign to her as a response.<p>

**Street**

After buying the book, Kyuu and Kyoko exit the store and prepare to go to their respective homes. Once they're outside the store, they see that it's now nighttime as several people are also going back home while some are going out for dates.

Before Kyuu can go, Kyoko quickly stops him because she wants to talk to him for a while.

"Kyuu-kun, I heard from Yumi-chan that you're not going to a high school. Is it really true?" she asks the boy as she grips her right hand tight. Deep in her heart, she actually cares for Kyuu and is quite worry that he decides to choose to be a detective rather than continue to high school. The boy just smiles at her and said that it is true much to her surprise.

"Y-You're not?" the girl asks in a disbelief tone as she looks at Kyuu, "But… But why?"  
>"Well," Kyuu utters with a smile as he looks at the night sky, "You can say that it was my dream from the very beginning."<p>

"It's kinda hard to explain, but I know that I really want to be a detective. Ever since that day…"

Kyoko is silent for a while until the boy looks at her, "So what's your dream?" he asks.  
>"My dream… I never thought about it before," Kyoko quietly said as she looks down on the ground, "My father always told me to find my own dream, but I couldn't figure out my dream."<p>

"Don't worry about it; some people need some time to understand their dreams. I know that you have a dream, you just don't know what you want in your life," Kyuu kindly said to the girl, "Give it some thoughts, okay?"

Kyoko remains silent though she understands what Kyuu truly means. At the same time, she is relieved that she finally knows that Kyuu is going to be okay so she does not have to worry about him anymore.

Just when she is about to talk to him again (this time, another subject), she remembers about her father, so she kindly bows to the boy, "Thank you very much, Kyuu-kun. I appreciate it," she said in a relieved tone before she walks back to her home.

Kyuu watches Kyoko walks away until he loses sight of the girl.  
>However, once she is out of sight, Kyuu quickly notices a certain boy standing next to him! Startled by the mysterious boy's sudden appearance, Kyuu sees that the boy looks a year younger than Kyuu with short, straight-down red hair though he's an inch taller than the detective freak. The boy wears an eye patch on his right eye and has a small vertical shaped scar beneath his left eye. The mysterious boy also wears a Gakuran uniform.<p>

"Nice evening, isn't it?" the mysterious boy said whilst looking at the night sky.  
>"A good time for a night stroll," the boy said again as he slowly walks toward a certain street.<p>

The mysterious boy disturbs Kyuu as the young boy senses something ominous from him…  
>All the sudden, a crow flies by Kyuu much to his surprise as the crow lands on the mysterious boy's right shoulder.<p>

"…Okay, now that's getting way too suspicious…" Kyuu utters as he decides to go back home now.

He walks toward a lone alley since it's the shortcut to his house. As he walks through the alley, he notices something shining hidden within a garbage can. "What's this?" Kyuu wonders as he approaches the garbage can and looks at the shining object. It's actually a blank card with silver lines. The boy notices that the card is strangely clean despite being in the garbage.

The boy looks around to see if someone actually lost it and sees no is around.  
>"Well, I guess I can take it as a souvenir," Kyuu said to himself with a smile as he reaches his hand toward the card.<p>

When he touches the card, the boy suddenly feels a strange energy flowing through his arm.  
>All the sudden, the card emits a shining light that blinds the boy!<p>

The light continues to shine for a brief moment until it finally fades away, but the boy feels sick all the sudden as he falls to the ground. His vision soon starts to fade out as he begins to get a glimpse of a mysterious girl floating above him. "Are… You my master?" the girl asks, but Kyuu feels very sick that he isn't able to speak. The mysterious figure continues to look at him until his vision finally fades away.

-/-

_An hour later…_

Kyoko is seen exiting from a pharmacy after she buys some medicines. The neighborhood she's currently in is rather quiet as there is no one around there but her.

"Dad…" Kyoko groans in a disappointed tone.

_#flashback#_

_When Kyoko returned home, she found that her father (who appears to be in his mid 30s, wears glasses, and has black hair) is lying on the couch with a blanket covering his body._

"_Welcome back, Kyoko-chan," her father said in a happy tone, but also with a hinted, painful tone.  
>"D-Dad?" Kyoko quickly runs to the couch to see what happen to her father. When she touches her father's forehead, she notices that he doesn't have a fever at all. "Sorry, but remember that expired meatballs? I kinda ate them," her father said while putting his hand on his stomach.<em>

_Her father accidentally eats some expired meatballs when he gets hungry while working.  
>"…Dad, I'm sorry, I forgot to throw those meatballs out," Kyoko apologetically said, but her father pats her by her head, "No worries, Kyoko-chan," he said with a smirk.<em>

"_But we're out of medicines so can you buy some at the pharmacy?"_

_#end of flashback#_

Kyoko is clearly disappointed feeling that she's responsible for getting her father sick since she forgot to get rid of the expired meatballs.

As she prepares to go back home, a certain person is wandering around the streets wearing a green-colored cape. She quickly notices the strange person when the mysterious individual enters a lone alley. She finds it strange to see someone wearing a cape in this place during the night until she also notices another person nearby. The other person appears to be holding a pickaxe and he enters a small house just across the street.

At the right side of the small house, she sees a man quickly runs through the street with a shadowy figure following him. The shy girl is surprised to see the shadow as the man enters another alley with shadow behind him.

Kyoko immediately feels an ominous atmosphere filling the air when she sees the shadowy figure as she slowly walks back to her home. As she slowly walks, her legs are trembling with fear as she has a feeling that someone is watching her. She begins to shiver in fear as the atmosphere begins to become even more ominous.

Shudder by the ominous atmosphere, she constantly looks back to see if someone is following her, but there is no one. That alone gives her the chills until she notices a sudden change in the atmosphere. She looks above and notices that the sky looks darker than ever. There are no stars above the sky or even the moon.

All the sudden, she begins to hear footsteps coming toward her. As a result, she quickly runs as fast as she can…

-/-

Back at the alley, Kyuu is still lying on the ground while holding the strange card in his hand as he slowly begins to wake up.

"Ouch… What just happened?" Kyuu groans as he slowly stands up before he notices the card in his hand.  
>Kyuu remembers that he picks up the card from the garbage can, but he couldn't remember what happen afterwards. Every time he tries to remember, his head instantly hurts.<p>

"…Oh crap! How long was I out?" Kyuu anxiously yelps. He quickly looks at his watch and realizes that it's already nine o'clock. The boy is supposed to be at home before nine or else his mother will scold him again for being very late. With no time to remember what had happened, he quickly storms out of the alley and runs to the lone street on the right to get home.

The boy runs quickly through the street trying to get home as fast as he can whilst telling himself to hurry until he quickly stops when he realizes that the street looks different from the one he lives. He quickly realizes that he goes to the wrong turn. He is supposed to turn left at the end of the alley as the right leads him to the wrong way.

Just as he is about to go back to the right way, he quickly notices something is wrong. The entire street looks almost deserted. It is quite strange since there supposed to be people walking around the street even at the time like this.

All the sudden, he hears someone calling for help.  
>The boy turns around again and notices that up ahead is Kyoko's neighborhood.<p>

"…Wait a sec!" Kyuu quickly remembers something from the two students back at school.  
>"<em>Back at school… They say that the murder happens near Kyoko-san's house? Don't tell me it's happening again!" <em>Kyuu thought with a worried expression as he hears someone calling for help again.

Kyuu quickly looks around for help, but there is no around even for a police officer.

With no time to waste, Kyuu decides to run toward the neighborhood to see what's really going on.

As soon as Kyuu arrives at the location where he hears someone calling for help, he sees a girl lying on the ground unconscious with a large, humanoid lion wearing a bulky armor and wields a large staff with two large, guillotine-like blades attached to each end of the staff. "W-What the…" Kyuu is struck in fear when he sees the bizarre-looking creature that he can't say another word.

The creature notices Kyuu as he turns attention to him.  
>"…This isn't what you're thinking," the creature suddenly speaks much to Kyuu's surprise.<p>

Startled and terrified by the creature, Kyuu slowly walks backward in an attempt to run for his life before it decides to attack him. The creature doesn't attack him at all, instead the feline tries to convince the boy that he doesn't attack the poor girl. Despite being frightened by the feline creature, Kyuu manages to see the girl clearly and, to his surprise, is actually Kyoko!

Kyuu gazes at the humanoid feline in a frightened state.

"You have to believe me; we heard her screaming a few seconds ago. We got here as fast as we could and we found her lying down. She is okay, she is just unconscious," the creature said to Kyuu in a calm tone.  
>"We? What do you mean by 'we'?" Kyuu asks as he stops walking backwards. The boy begins to feel that the feline creature doesn't want to harm him as he notices a human nearby the street.<p>

The human appears to be 19 years old, has brown spiky hair, wears modern style clothing, and has a strange locket in his pocket. "Ajani, sorry I'm late," the human said as he approaches the creature who is actually known as _**Ajani Goldmane**_.

"_What? Ajani Goldmane?"_ Kyuu recognizes the name Ajani Goldmane.  
>He heard about that name from somewhere.<p>

"Master, did you find the perpetrator?" Ajani asks the human, which catches Kyuu's attention.  
>The human quickly notices the boy a bit late as he sees the strange card with silver lines in the boy's hand. The mysterious teen slowly smiles as he glances at the boy, "I haven't seen you around, so I bet you're new here," the human said in a cocky tone as steps forward, "I hate to beat the hell out of newbies, but hey, this is war."<p>

"War? Hey, what do you mean war?" Kyuu asks in a confused tone.

The 19 years old teen is intrigued with the boy even more knowing that Kyuu doesn't know anything about the 'war.' The teen gestures a finger gun pose on his right hand as he aims it at Kyuu with a sly smile, "Dude… If you really don't know anything about this war and yet you got that artifact, you're a dead guy," the teen said as he lowers his right hand, "But since I'm a nice guy… I'll go easy on ya."

"Ajani!" The teen calls the feline creature, "Go for it. Don't worry about the girl; I'll get her out of the way."  
>Ajani Goldmane nods as a response. The humanoid feline turns his attention toward Kyuu and prepares to slash him with his large weapon!<p>

"Forgive me, but it is the Master's order. Defend yourself!"

Ajani immediately charges toward Kyuu!

Surprised by the sudden attack, the boy quickly puts the mysterious card into his pocket and attempts to run for his life, but Ajani manages to get close to the boy on time and kicks him sending Kyuu falling to the ground. Ajani swings his sharp blade downward, but Kyuu manages to avoid being stabbed by the blade by rolling to the left.

"Y-You were trying to kill me!" Kyuu anxiously shouts as he quickly stands up and faces the feline creature.  
>The boy knows that his strength is weak so he has no chance of winning the creature. Thus, he has to run away from the creature. Before he prepares to run, he quickly turns his head toward Kyoko who is dragged away from the battle by the mysterious teen.<p>

"_He… Won't kill her?"_ Kyuu thought as Ajani suddenly swings his weapon!  
>Ajani's weapon almost slashes Kyuu, but the boy manages to duck to avoid the attack. "You shouldn't worry about the girl, we won't do anything harm to her," Ajani said as he suddenly kicks Kyuu by his stomach sending the boy flinging in midair and crashing to the ground painfully, "You have to worry yourself, Summoner."<p>

Kyuu feels that pain.  
>Ajani's kick is strong that it paralyzes the boy's body in an instant.<p>

Kyuu tries to get up and run again, but the kick greatly hurts his stomach that he can't get up properly.  
>As he slowly tries to get up, he sees that Ajani doesn't attack him again. Instead, the feline warrior watches the boy with his eerie eyes.<p>

"…If you are a Summoner, then you should be able to summon it. Yet, you neither summon nor use your deck when I strike the first blow," Ajani said.

"Summoner? War? Just what the hell's going on here?" Kyuu angrily groans as he finally stands up though his legs are still trembling. At the same time, he holds his wounded stomach.

"…You really don't know?" Ajani asks intrigued by the boy, "I see… Then holding back won't help at all. There are ways to subconsciously summon your Tsukumogami," Ajani said as he poses his offensive stance.

"Defend yourself! Summon your Tsukumogami!"

Ajani suddenly charges toward Kyuu and, this time, he attempts to cut the boy in half!  
>Kyuu is unable to run due to the pain he still feels, so he is helpless in front of the humanoid feline, Ajani. <em>"N-No,"<em> Kyuu thought in a terrified expression, _"Am I… Going to die?"_

Aware of his pending doom, Kyuu slowly closes his eyes hoping that someone would come and save him or leave him to die. He could only regret that he isn't able to live up as a famous detective. As soon as Ajani gets close to the boy and swings his double-edged blade staff, the boy suddenly hears an angered voice in his head.

"_Master, what're you doing?"_

The card in his pocket suddenly emits a yellow light as a mysterious figure suddenly forms in front of Ajani and blocks the attack!

The boy is surprised to see the figure in front of him as it protects him from Ajani's assault. The figure manages to force Ajani away as it slowly reveals its true form… A girl in a blue-colored magician dress holding a magical staff!

"Y-You're…" Kyuu instantly recognizes the girl as she quickly approaches the boy.  
>"Master, are you okay?" the girl asks.<p>

"I… Yes, I'm okay," Kyuu nervously answers as he notices that Ajani is staring at him with a satisfied expression as the mysterious teen approaches his feline warrior. "Well, you finally summon your Tsukumogami," the teen said with a happy expression, "Though she looks kinda cute."

"But that alone isn't enough," Ajani said as he prepares to fight again, "You have the Tsukumogami's artifact in your hand, so you must prove that you are a worthy Summoner."

Kyuu is still confused by the current situation he's in, but the girl tells him that she will explain everything once they finish the fight.

"I am… _**Dark Magician Girl**_!" the girl shouts as she aims her staff toward Ajani and his master, "I will not allow you to touch my Master!"

-/-

Meanwhile at the top of a building, the boy with an eye patch (the same boy that Kyuu met earlier) is gazing at the streets below.

"…So…" The boy gleefully said as his pet crow lands on his right shoulder.  
>"Seems we have a new Summoner joining the war. Now things started to get interesting, don't you think?" the boy said to the crow with a soft smile. The crow caws at him as a response whilst it points its beak toward a street on the right.<p>

"I guess you're right… No time to waste. The **Tsukumogami War** has just begun."

_**To be continued…**_

**A/N:** Well, this is the end of the first chapter. Hope you enjoy it.

The next chapter will explain the rules of the mysterious Tsukumogami War especially about the Summoners and their spirits known as the Tsukumogami. But does the Tsukumogami War have a connection with the recent murders?

The Tsukumogami that appear in this fic are:

**Dark Magician Girl  
><strong>Known as Black Magician Girl in Japan from **Yu-Gi-Oh!** She is a famous card used by the main character, Yugi, and also appeared as a monster spirit on various occasions. She uses magic that can be strengthen through spell cards and the spirit of her former teacher.

**Ajani Goldmane  
><strong>The white-aligned planeswalker from **Magic: The Gathering**. Ajani wields white magic, as his specialty is magic of the purification of body and soul: spells that heal and strengthen his allies, and spells that evoke the inner, spiritual essence of others.

Also, the first part of the story is based on the first chapter of the manga except for the later part after Kyuu solves the broken glass window.


	2. The Dawning War

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own I don't own some of characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There are also OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

**-/-**

"_At daylight, you are safe, but at nighttime, you are in danger._

_The night is where people known as Summoners obtain mysterious beings known as the Tsukumogami spirits. They are ordinary people during the day, but they are Summoners at night. Every night, they engage in a war among themselves for a certain 'gift' that might change their life forever. The winner will stay in the war while the loser will be disqualified from the war. _

_However, it is said that a Summoner does not kill an ordinary person that is not involve in the war. That soon change when a string of mysterious murders begin to take place during the war._

_The murders soon haunt the city where the war takes place._

_What truth lies within the shadows of the night?  
>The answer lies within the war of the Summoners.<em>

_This war is known as… _

_The Tsukumogami War"_

**-/-**

**Tokyo, Japan**

**Street**

In the dark night, the boy, Kyuu, confronts the feline warrior, Ajani Goldmane, while his 'master' is taking the unconscious girl, Kyoko, out of harm's way.

"…If you are a Summoner, then you should be able to summon it. Yet, you neither summon nor use your deck when I strike the first blow," Ajani said.

"Summoner? War? Just what the hell's going on here?" Kyuu angrily groans as he finally stands up though his legs are still trembling. At the same time, he holds his wounded stomach.

"…You really don't know?" Ajani asks intrigued by the boy, "I see… Then holding back won't help at all. There are ways to subconsciously summon your Tsukumogami," Ajani said as he poses his offensive stance.

"Defend yourself! Summon your Tsukumogami!"

Ajani suddenly charges toward Kyuu and, this time, he attempts to cut the boy in half!  
>Kyuu is unable to run due to the pain he still feels, so he is helpless in front of the humanoid feline, Ajani. <em>"N-No,"<em> Kyuu thought in a terrified expression, _"Am I… Going to die?"_

Aware of his pending doom, Kyuu slowly closes his eyes hoping that someone would come and save him or leave him to die. He could only regret that he isn't able to live up as a famous detective. As soon as Ajani gets close to the boy and swings his double-edged blade staff, the boy suddenly hears an angered voice in his head.

"_Master, what're you doing?"_

The card in his pocket suddenly emits a yellow light as a mysterious figure suddenly forms in front of Ajani and blocks the attack!

The boy is surprised to see the figure in front of him as it protects him from Ajani's assault. The figure manages to force Ajani away as it slowly reveals its true form… A girl in a blue-colored magician dress holding a magical staff!

"Y-You're…" Kyuu instantly recognizes the girl as she quickly approaches the boy.  
>"Master, are you okay?" the girl asks.<p>

"I… Yes, I'm okay," Kyuu nervously answers as he notices that Ajani is staring at him with a satisfied expression as the mysterious teen approaches his feline warrior. "Well, you finally summon your Tsukumogami," the teen said with a happy expression, "Though she looks kinda cute."

"But that alone isn't enough," Ajani said as he prepares to fight again, "You have the Tsukumogami's artifact in your hand, so you must prove that you are a worthy Summoner."

Kyuu is still confused by the current situation he's in, but the girl tells him that she will explain everything once they finish the fight.

"I am… _**Dark Magician Girl**_!" the girl shouts as she aims her staff toward Ajani and his master, "I will not allow you to touch my Master!"

**-/Tsukumogami War\-  
>XXXXXXX<strong>

**Chapter 2: the Dawning War  
><strong>**-/-**

The mysterious girl that bears similar appearance to Dark Magician Girl, a very famous card from a card game, confronts Ajani who is prepared to fight the girl with its large staff with two large, guillotine-like blades attached to each end of the staff.

"Man… I always wanted a female companion," the man sarcastically said whilst his eyes with a cynical smile.  
>"Now Master, what would your girlfriend think if she sees you with a female Tsukumogami?" Ajani asks much to the man's dismay. "Focus master, we have a fight to take care of."<p>

"Heh, fine," the man's right hand suddenly emits a purple aura as he takes out a mysterious deck of cards from his belt. Kyuu notices the deck until the boy realizes that he also has a deck of cards in his right side of his belt! Noticing the boy is confused and stressed, Dark Magician Girl calms Kyuu down saying that she'll instruct him what to do with the cards.

"So still confused?" the man asks as he snaps his finger to summon four floating cards with Latin language written on each card.

"_Physica Offensa!"_

The card suddenly bursts into a shining light as the light merges with Ajani.  
>Ajani's guillotine blades suddenly become even larger with red lines engraved on the sharp blades.<p>

"Here we come!" The man smirks.

**-Summoner Battle!-**

"W-What was that?" Kyuu nervously asks as Ajani charges toward the two!  
>"Master, you can do that too! Focus your mind on summoning those Primary Cards!" Dark Magician Girl yells as she quickly blocks Ajani's staff-blade with her magic staff.<p>

Though still startled with their current situation, Kyuu quickly clenches his right hand and focuses his mind on the four mysterious cards known as the 'Primary Cards.' He successfully summons the four floating cards in hand right when Dark Magician Girl dodges Ajani's attack.

"Master, use that card!" Dark Magician Girl points at the certain card in Kyuu's hand.  
>"R-Right!" Kyuu responds by taking the card while the other cards disappear.<p>

"_Magus Offensa!"_

The card that the boy chooses suddenly bursts into a shining light, which in turn merges with Dark Magician Girl.  
>The girl's staff emits a shining aura as it begins to form a small orb at the end of the staff's edge as a result.<p>

-/-

Kyuu is surprised by her weapon's transformation as he notices that Ajani is going to attack her.  
>"Look out!" Kyuu yells in a distraught tone. Dark Magician Girl quickly ducks to avoid Ajani's attack and counterattacks by aiming her staff at Ajani's abdomen and it suddenly fires a purple energy beam.<p>

The purple energy beam blasts Ajani into midair causing an immense pain on his body as he crashes to the ground.

"N-Not bad," Ajani mutters as he stands up, "But it's not enough."  
>Ajani suddenly throws his staff blade like a boomerang toward Dark Magician Girl! The girl attempts to move to the right to avoid the staff blade until she suddenly stops moving. She looks below and sees that a red, handcuff-like energy binds her legs!<p>

Kyuu notices that the man is holding a card with the image of the same red energy that binds Dark Magician Girl's legs. "Heh, don't think these cards are just for show," the man smirks as the card suddenly disappears.

"No!"  
>Kyuu tries to push Dark Magician Girl out of the way, but the girl instead pushes him aside so she is hit by Ajani's attack instead. The red energy cuffs fade away from her legs as she kneels down in pain. "M-Master, I'm fine…" Dark Magician Girl utters in a distraught tone as Kyuu quickly approaches her. To his surprise, he notices that the girl doesn't bleed despite the fact that Ajani's weapon slashes her.<p>

"Master, don't try to protect me. You're human and I'm not. Humans can die from that attack," the girl said to her as they see that Ajani retrieves his staff blade. The man suddenly draws out another card from his deck and it shows an image of an axe. The card's label is **Axe of Despair**. "Try this one!" The man uses the card as it summons an image that bears similar to an axe above Ajani. As a result, it dramatically increases Ajani's physical attack.

"Go, Ajani! Knock that little girl out for me!" The man shouts with a joyful expression, so Ajani rushes toward Dark Magician Girl and her master.

"Master, out of the way!" Dark Magician Girl quickly pushes Kyuu out of the way.  
>She tries to block Ajani's attack with her magic staff, but to her surprise, Ajani's strength outmatches the girl as the feline warrior's attack easily breaks through her defense. Ajani performs a vertical slash followed by a pair of knee kicks and a thrust toward the girl, which gravely injures her.<p>

Dark Magician Girl is still standing so she's ready for a counterattack.  
>Once Ajani tries to thrust her with his staff blade, she quickly suddenly floats in midair and flies backward to avoid Ajani's assault much to the lion-like warrior and his master's surprise. Dark Magician Girl counterattacks by swinging her magic staff to unleash another purple energy beam that manages to hit Ajani flinging the feline warrior backwards.<p>

The girl quickly turns her attention to Kyuu and tells him to use his Spell Cards.

Realizing that the cards are somewhat act as spells, the boy quickly takes out one card from his deck.  
>"How about this?" Kyuu shows the card with an image of a staff. The card's label is <strong>Black Staff<strong>. It suddenly emits a purple light as Dark Magician Girl's staff suddenly changes drastically into a new form: a larger staff with a large, purple orb on the edge.

"Not exactly I got in mind, but it'll work," Dark Magician Girl said commenting on her new staff as she turns her attention toward Ajani.

Both Dark Magician Girl and Ajani lunge toward each other as they swiftly attack each other as the boy notice that his 'Tsukumogami Spirit' is slowly walking backwards. The boy decides to help as he takes out another card from his deck. The card has the image of a group of knives with the label **Thousand Knives**.

Dark Magician Girl notices that Kyuu is holding another card as the boy urges her to get out of the way.  
>She nods as a response.<p>

As soon as Ajani delivers another blow, she quickly lunges to the right to avoid Ajani's attack as Kyuu uses the **Thousand Knives** spell card. The card bursts into a purple light as knives suddenly appear behind the boy as the knives immediately fire toward Ajani! To the man's surprise, some of the knives stab Ajani by his legs and his shoulder even though the lion-like warrior tries to defend himself against the knives. As a result, Ajani is weakened.

Dark Magician Girl realizes that it's the right time to perform the final attack, but she quickly realizes that she too is weakened by Ajani's assault. To make matters worse, Ajani is still able to move his legs despite the knives being stabbed into his legs.

Kyuu understands that the girl is in trouble, so he quickly takes out another card from his deck. The card that he draws out has an image of a glowing, blue orb with the label **Restoration**. "_Hope this helps_," Kyuu quickly uses the card as it bursts into a purple light. A string of soft light surrounds Dark Magician Girl and it slowly releases a crowd of blue orbs at her. To everyone's surprise, the blue orbs slowly heal her injuries as it restores her back to her full strength!

"T-Thanks, Master," Dark Magician Girl said to the boy with a grateful expression before she turns her attention to the weakened Ajani.

"Oh crap… I don't have any healing spells," the man utters with a terrified, yet comical, expression.

Dark Magician Girl raises her staff and aims it toward the feline warrior.  
>"Here comes!" the magician unleashes a larger, purple energy beam at Ajani knocking the lion-like figure to the ground.<p>

Ajani is gravely injured as the man smiles and said, "Alright, you win. I give up."

**-Summoner Battle is over-**

After a rather brief fight, the man smiles with a satisfied expression.

"Well, that concludes our lesson today. You've won," the man sarcastically said as he helps Ajani up.  
>"What? You… Held back?" Kyuu asks as the man nods.<p>

"Yup, hafta say… Not bad for a newbie. You're ready now," the man slowly walks backward as Ajani suddenly transforms into a glittering light. Ajani's light suddenly merges with the certain item that is inside the man's pocket.

"Huh? Ready for what?"  
>"You're ready to take on the war. The <em><strong>Tsukumogami War<strong>_."

"…That's right…" Kyuu utters, as he suddenly feels exhausted. The boy kneels down as his vision slowly fades, "But… What war… Is it…" the boy mutters. Kyuu suddenly falls to the ground, as he's rendered unconscious.

"Master!" Dark Magician Girl quickly approaches her unconscious Master…

_Few hours later…_

**Kyuu's Home**

**9:10 AM**

Kyuu is seen lying down on his futon back with his eyes shut until he slowly regains conscious.

When he opens his eyes, he sees that it is morning already with birds chirping outside his window, the sun shining, and the streets are slightly crowded.

"_What… What just happened?"_ Kyuu wonders as he begins to remember what happen last night. He remembers the event piece by piece as he also remembers that he's with a girl known as Dark Magician Girl. _"That girl… Doesn't she looked like that monster from that card game?"_ Kyuu thought to himself as he looks outside the window to get some fresh air.

However, he soon thinks that last night's event is just a dream.  
>Just when he thinks that there's going to be school today, he remembers that today the school is having a day-off and the fact that he's going to graduate soon though his scores are extremely low.<p>

The boy decides that he should go down and have breakfast first before going somewhere until someone enters his room. To his surprise, it's someone that he doesn't even expect…

"Good morning, Master. How are you this morning?"

It is Dark Magician Girl…

"W-WHAT!" Kyuu yelps as he comically jumps backward and accidentally slips on a book causing him to fall to the floor. The boy immediately stands up and confronts the mysterious girl. "Y-You! You're from last night, aren't you?" Kyuu nervously asks the girl whilst he points his index finger toward the girl. The mysterious girl, Dark Magician Girl, kindly smiles toward Kyuu even though the boy is a little startled.

To his surprise, he realizes that the girl's uniform is different from the one she wears last night.  
>She wears a modern silk dress that most teenage girls wear. The girl also wears a pendant with a blue-colored crystal.<p>

"When did you… Get here?" Kyuu asks her when he starts to calm down.  
>"I've been here since last night. You collapsed when you used that Spell Card, remember?" Dark Magician Girl kindly replies whilst she closes her eyes and smiles as she nods.<p>

However, the boy is still startled since the girl looks exactly like the character from the card game, Yu-Gi-Oh! with the same name.

All the sudden, Kyuu's mother enters the room with a worried expression.  
>"Kyuu! Are you okay?" Kyuu's mother exclaims as she quickly approaches her son and starts to check on him to see if he's okay. Thankfully, the boy doesn't have any injuries much to her relief.<p>

Kyuu's mother immediately approaches Dark Magician Girl and she holds the girl's hands with an admiration and joyful expression, "Thank you so much, Minako-chan," his mother said.

"Minako?" Kyuu is befuddled when his mother calls Dark Magician Girl "Minako."

-/-

At the living room,  
>Kyuu sits with his mother and Dark Magician Girl where they can talk.<p>

"So… Can you tell me what happened while I was out?" Kyuu kindly asks.

"You see, I found you lying on the ground unconscious while I was walking. You look very tired, so I decided to help you," Dark Magician Girl said with a smile. Kyuu immediately notices that Dark Magician Girl is lying when he first hear the first sentence. He clearly remembers that he faints when he uses that Spell Card, **Restoration**, until he notices that the girl is looking at him with a worried expression. The boy can tell that she lies because she does not want his mother to get involved with this 'war.'

The boy silences as he urges the girl to continue on.  
>"So I drag you throughout the street and your mother happens to find us near a grocery store," she continues to explain as Kyuu's mother nods in response.<p>

"I saw you two in the street when I finished shopping for dinner. She helped me carry you back home," Kyuu's mother also explains to her son, "Kyuu, what happened to you? Why did you faint in the middle of the street?"  
>Dark Magician Girl immediately answers his mother's question in an attempt to protect him by telling her that he might faint due to fatigue. Thus, Kyuu decides to play along as he tells his mother that he feels exhausted lately.<p>

"…Kyuu, now what did I tell you about watching late night detective shows?" Kyuu's mother scolds her son in an annoyed tone, "For the 100th time, please don't watch those shows after midnight. You know that you'll get tired if you don't get enough sleep."

"Yes, mom," Kyuu sighs as he lowers his head in shame.

Kyuu's mother then turns her attention toward Dark Magician Girl as she puts hand on the girl's shoulder, "So Minako-chan, have you decided to stay here for awhile?" Kyuu's mother asks with a grin much to Kyuu's surprise. "Wait, what?" Kyuu asks in a surprised tone along with a shocked expression. The girl nervously chuckles as the boy's mother glances at him with a grin.

Kyuu's mother explains that last night, she and the mysterious girl talk together. The girl claims that she's from Shibuya and she comes to Tokyo to study for high school. She also claims that her parents can't afford a place to stay there, so she decides to go there on her own and find her own job for her own sake. However, it proves to be much more difficult than she thought.

"…So… Minako-san," Kyuu quietly said, "You… Decided to stay here until you graduate?"  
>"Yes," the girl nods in response, "I've managed to contact my parents and they agree to let me stay here."<br>"I already talked to her parents and they both agreed," Kyuu's mom said, which surprises the boy knowing that the girl doesn't seem to have parents.

"Isn't that nice, Kyuu?" Kyuu's mother asks, "To celebrate Minako-chan's arrival, I'll fix up a special dinner just for the three of us."

"Special dinner?" Dark Magician Girl asks in an excited tone much to Kyuu's dismay.

-/-

Afterwards, Kyuu's mother leaves the house for work.  
>Since Kyuu doesn't have school today, he decides to go and talk to Dark Magician Girl privately at his room.<p>

"So… 'Minako-san,' I got a few questions here," Kyuu said in a cool tone while walking around like a bad cop as the girl giggles due to his funny antics, "First of all, what do you mean by 'parents'? Did you made that up and how did you-"

"I just used my magic to transfer my voice to the phone. Of course, I have to change my voice," Dark Magician Girl quickly cuts off the boy's conversation with a smile leaving Kyuu stunned.  
>"I'm sorry, Master… But I have to lie to your mother. I cannot let your mother know about me or the Tsukumogami War. It's far too dangerous to involve her."<p>

"…So last night… When I used that card and faint… You drag me around until my mom saw us and she took us both home, am I right?"  
>"Yes, Master."<p>

"Well, thanks for saving me… But what about the other girl?" Kyuu asks referring to his friend from school, Kyoko, who is also at the scene of the 'war' but she is knocked out.  
>"Oh, that sleeping girl? When your mom found us, she regained conscious and she doesn't seem to recall what happened. She just went straight to her home."<p>

After hearing the news, Kyuu is relieved that Kyoko is safe though he decides to visit her later just to make sure that she's okay.

"Okay, can you tell what's going on here?" Kyuu asks as he shows her the card with her image engraved on it along with the deck of Spell Cards, "I promised to tell and now I am going to tell you. But please, try to remain calm," Dark Magician Girl said as she takes a deep breath.

"First of all, I'm a Tsukumogami Spirit. You know, an artifact spirit," Dark Magician Girl points at the card on Kyuu's hand before she points at the card deck, "Our artifacts were scattered throughout this city. Whoever possesses our artifact will become their Tsukumogami. You found my artifact, so I am your Tsukumogami Spirit. Other than that, you become a Summoner."

"A… Summoner?"  
>"Yes, a Summoner is a special human being that can summon his or her own Tsukumogami Spirits. When a person obtains a Tsukumogami Spirit, that person is given the ability to use magic through Spell Cards. Each spell has its different effects that are either advantage or disadvantage along with its cost. The card you used, the <strong>Restoration<strong> spell, drains your stamina. That's why you felt so tired last night."

"I see…" Kyuu mutters as he examines the deck until he finds the Restoration spell card. Knowing that each spell can drain his stamina too, he has to be careful if he is going to choose another Spell Card. "Wait, did you say 'summon his or her own Tsukumogami Spirits?'" Kyuu asks when he notices something different in the girl's statement; she said 'Spirits' rather than 'Spirit.'

"Each Summoner can use multiple Tsukumogami Spirits, but according to the war's rules, a Summoner can only hold three Tsukumogami Spirits," Minako explains further.

"And you're probably thinking why I looked like this," the girl said as she gestures her arms around her body, "We Tsukumogami Spirits are formless so we needed to take forms if we're going to participate the 'war,' so we decided to take forms of characters from fiction and myth. That way, we're able to differentiate ourselves from the real people."

Dark Magician Girl also explains about the rules of the war. It is stated that normal people must NOT know anything about the Tsukumogami War, not even their own family. If someone breaks these rules, they will be stripped out of their powers and their Tsukumogami Spirits, thus they are disqualified from the war.

"So that's another reason you change your name, huh?"  
>"Of course, Master. I cannot let people know that I'm a Tsukumogami Spirit."<p>

"…Okay, now tell me… What is this 'war' last night?" Kyuu calmly asks, but the girl suddenly silence for a while.  
>"…The Tsukumogami War, it's a war between Summoners fighting among themselves for a long time. Summoners have already existed in this world since the 16th century. It is said that the last Summoner standing will be given a 'gift,' but every year, new Summoners continue to enter the war so it's endless. You, my Master, are one of the newer Summoners of this year. However, at daylight, the Summoners are just normal people."<p>

Kyuu couldn't believe what he is hearing, a mysterious war that is said to have lasted for a long time since the 16th century. The boy stares at the girl who is smiling at him, "At daylight, we Tsukumogami Spirits have the option to pretend to be normal humans or return to their artifacts. I decided to be a real girl."

"The war only happens at night. At a certain period during the night, an alternate reality known as the In'ei Reality will shift into your reality. You did experience the change, right?" Dark Magician Girl asks Kyuu.  
>The boy clearly remembers what happen last night…<p>

**X**  
>When he woke up after he obtained the girl's artifact, he noticed that the streets were almost deserted as if the people have left the entire city.<p>

The only people he see are his friend Kyoko and the Summoner with his Tsukumogami Spirit, Ajani.  
><strong>X<strong>

Kyuu realizes that he does ends up at the In'ei Reality since there are no people around. The Summoners fight only in the In'ei Reality, which explains the fact that no one has ever heard of the Tsukumogami War. However, he notices that Kyoko is there too and she doesn't have any Tsukumogami Spirits with her. It appears that some normal people can somehow enter the In'ei Reality but their memory of that reality will be erased when they return to the real world. Only Summoners can retain their memory of the In'ei Reality and the Tsukumogami War.

"Wait, so how long does the war lasts in one night?" Kyuu quickly asks.  
>"It's usually an hour, Master, but the In'ei Reality shift happens differently each night. Sometimes it doesn't shift at all," Dark Magician Girl explains.<p>

The boy begins to ponder about the Tsukumogami War and deduces that the war is somehow connected with the murder case, the Nighttime Murders.

If you think about it, the cause of death is quite brutal. The recent murder is a man in his late 30s who is found dead at a certain alley with the victim's torso cut by something sharp. The fact that the police isn't able to find any clues, the murder weapon, or any witnesses, it can be assumed that it is the work of a Summoner. The victim must have ended up in the In'ei Reality where he has been murdered by one of the Summoners.

Soon, Kyuu begins to explain to Dark Magician Girl about the murders including the fourth murder much to her surprise. "Wait… That cannot be right," Minako the Dark Magician Girl with a distraught expression; she explains that the Summoners never kill any normal human without any reason. However, the rules don't state anything about killing non-Summoners. In other words, the Summoners do have the option to kill normal people that end up in the In'ei Reality.

"…But who set this so-called war?" Kyuu asks.  
>"Strangely, I never knew about it. I'm a new generation of the spirits, so I don't know who made this Tsukumogami War," she replies.<p>

The mystery deepens even further after learning the existence of the Tsukumogami War.

While the Summoners are fighting over a 'gift,' someone among them secretly kills people that end up at the In'ei Reality without being noticed. The boy suspects that someone is using the Tsukumogami War as a weapon to kill people though he doesn't know the killer's motives. To make things more complicated, Kyuu is a Summoner so he has to participate in the war.

"…Guess I have to join this Tsukumogami War," Kyuu said in a calm expression, "Whoever's behind this must be stopped. I'll join, but I will NOT kill a Summoner. I'm not an executioner. My goal is to prevent that killer from using the war to kill his victims."

"There's no way the police can do it… Who'd believe that the murderer kills people by entering a supernatural world?" Kyuu asks while raising his shoulders as the girl remains silent, but she understands what the boy means. "It's not just that… It's this entire war. What 'gift' are they talking about? And it lasted since the 16th century? That's almost impossible to believe. It's far too suspicious for my taste."

"So do you want to join the war?" the girl humbly asks as the boy nods as a response, "Yeah, we're the only ones who know about this war," the boy said back.

"But Dark Magician Girl… Or Minako… If we're going to be partners, you gotta stop calling me 'Master,'" Kyuu stands up as he approaches the girl and raises his hand toward her, "So call me Kyuu, okay?"

The girl nods her head with a gentle smile as she shakes the boy's hand, "Of course, Master Kyuu."  
>"…That's close enough," Kyuu chuckles whilst sweat dropping since the girl still address him as 'Master.'<p>

-/-

After Dark Magician Girl explains everything about the mysterious Tsukumogami War especially that the war is connected to the murder case, Kyuu ponders about the war and the case until the boy decides to investigate the location of the recent crime.

If Kyuu's theory about the murder and war is connected, he needs solid evidence to support his theory.  
>The problem is that the police are still investigating the scene of the crime making it difficult for the two to investigate the area. With that in mind, Kyuu thinks that they should investigate the crime scene without being caught by the police.<p>

"Master Kyuu… Don't you think that's a bit too far?" Dark Magician Girl asks in a worried tone, "What if we get caught by the police?"  
>"Oh, relax, Minako-san," Kyuu said with a cheerful expression, "Trust me, I know the area well. There's no way the police can catch us snooping around!"<p>

**Street**

**11:00 AM**

"…You were saying, Master?" Dark Magician Girl moans in a disappointed expression because the police officers catch her and her master!

The scene of the crime is actually a small alley near Kyoko's neighborhood.

"You two!" One of the police officers shouts as he takes both Kyuu and Minako out of the scene.  
>"This is a serious murder investigation!" the officer tosses the two out of the area into the local street.<br>"If I catch you two snooping around again or I'll put you in a cell!"

Once the officer storms off, Kyuu sighs disappointed that his plan doesn't work as Dark Magician Girl/Minako tells him that he should reconsider his plan first.

"Master, it's no use. We can't inspect the crime scene with those men around," Dark Magician Girl said as Kyuu quickly stands up. The boy turns his attention toward his Tsukumogami Spirit, "Yeah, guess it can't help," Kyuu mutters as he helps the female spirit up.

"Now what're we supposed to do? Without any clear evidence, we can't confirm if the killer is a Summoner," Dark Magician Girl said to her Master much to his dismay. However, the boy doesn't give up that easily as his detective intuition tells him that the clues are still at the crime scene. "Or… You can just go and investigate the previous crime scenes?" Dark Magician Girl asks which surprises the boy.

"Damn, why didn't I think of it?" Kyuu said in an annoyed tone as he grips his right fist until he turns his attention toward Minako, "If the previous murders were caused by a Summoner, then there has to be clues that the police missed," Kyuu said to his spirit. The two agrees that they should go and investigate the first three murders hoping that they will find the clue.

Just when they're about to depart to the other locations, someone suddenly calls Kyuu's name from behind.  
>The boy nervously looks behind only to see Kyoko, the shy girl from his school!<p>

"K-Kyoko-san? W-What're you doing here?" Kyuu nervously asks as he steps backward much to Kyoko's confusion. "I… Was about to ask you the same question," Kyoko said back to the boy with a confused expression until she notices Minako who is standing next to Kyuu.

"Who're you?" Kyoko kindly asks as Dark Magician Girl/Minako bows toward the shy girl, "Hi, my name is Minako. I'm new here," Minako said with a smile.

Kyoko stares at the blonde-haired girl as the boy quickly strikes another conversation.  
>"Yeah, that's right. She's new here so I thought that I should show her around," Kyuu nervously said while folding his hands. However, Kyoko feels that the boy is suspicious as she recognizes the alley. The shy student is quiet all the sudden until she quickly steps forward when she finally notices that the alley is actually the crime scene of the fourth victim, "You're not trying to drag her to this Nighttime Murders case, aren't you?" she asks in a worried expression much to the boy's dismay.<p>

"Kyuu-kun, please don't you try to solve this case, it's really dangerous! Especially if you're dragging a complete stranger into this mess," Kyoko said toward Kyuu.

"H-Hey, Kyoko-chan, I wasn't trying to solve a mystery here," Kyuu nervously said as his hands are trembling. The boy tries to think of another reason to convince his schoolmate that he isn't trying to solve the murder case until the blonde-haired girl quickly talks to the shy student to defend Kyuu.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about," Dark Magician Girl/Minako approaches Kyoko with a gentle voice and mild expression, "Kyuu here is showing me around, so don't worry about it. I'm sure that we'll be good friends."

"…Okay then," the shy girl nods in response as she turns her attention toward the detective freak, "Kyuu-kun, please don't try anything funny, okay?"

Kyoko eventually leaves the street after she is convinced that Kyuu is not trying to solve the murder case much to the boy's relief.

"Thanks… You saved me," Kyuu murmurs in a relieved tone as the girl glances at the boy, "So who was that?" she asks. "She's my schoolmate, Kyoko Hachikawa," Kyuu begins to explain about his school with Minako while they depart to the other crime scenes.

While they're on their way to the crime scene, the two begins to talk together as Dark Magician Girl is interested with Kyuu's old school especially his dream of being a detective. Even thought Dark Magician Girl is a Tsukumogami Spirit, she acts almost like a real human, as she is able to understand and talk like one.

-/-

The two soon arrive at one of the crime scenes, the local park.

The first victim was a woman in her mid 20s.  
>She was found murdered in park with her head, arms, and legs were forcefully removed from her body. The witnesses and the police were puzzled by the vicious murder, as they were even more puzzled that the killer left no clues behind.<p>

"Here it is," Kyuu points at a small bench with a fountain behind it.  
>They found the body lying south of the bench.<p>

"The police inspected the body, they say nothing was stolen from the poor woman," Kyuu explains as he approaches the ground where the body is found. The victim's body may be removed, but the boy can still smell the odor of blood on the ground. Dark Magician Girl decides to join the investigation as she approaches the boy.

"I think I can help, Master Kyuu. We, the Tsukumogami Spirits, have the power to sense any energy of a Summoner through contact," Dark Magician Girl said as she raises her left hand whilst pointing her other hand toward her left hand. The fact that they're facing a case that involves a Summoner, the boy has no choice but to allow Dark Magician Girl to touch the ground where the body is found.

Dark Magician Girl lowers her left hand toward the ground and eventually touches it.  
>Upon touching the ground, she senses a faint energy that belongs to a Summoner!<p>

"So… It IS the work of a Summoner," Kyuu said in a distraught tone, "Then the other murders… I think we have to inspect the other two murders. We can worry about the fourth murder later."

The blonde-haired girl nods in response.

They begin to investigate the other two crime scenes:  
>- The body of a middle-aged man found at a cemetery near the park<br>- The body of a female college student found at an abandoned apartment near the cemetery

Dark Magician Girl touches the grounds where the bodies are and she senses that both have similar energy that belongs to a Summoner. Kyuu's theory is true since a Tsukumogami Spirit is able to sense a Summoner's energy from the three murders except for the recent one that is found at the alley near the abandoned apartment. Although Dark Magician Girl is able to sense the killer's energy, they lack the proof that a Summoner is behind the gruesome murders forcing the two to work alone.

Now the question is… What is the killer's motive?  
>Why does the killer murdered those people?<p>

The answers remain unclear unless Kyuu and his Tsukumogami Spirit are able to track down the killer.

-/-

Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl arrive at a restaurant after a long investigation.  
>The two orders some soda drinks to refresh their stamina.<p>

"So we finally know that our killer is a Summoner," Kyuu slowly sips his drink, "But we don't know the killer's identity. If only we had other leads besides those energies…"

As the boy tries to figure out the solution to figure out how to get close to the victim's bodies to see if he can find any clues to pinpoint the killer's identity. Dark Magician Girl touches her finger on her forehead thinking of an answer to their problem.

As she tries to think of a solution to find the killer, the boy finally figures out another way to identify the killer… Or rather, catch the killer himself.

"Minako-san, we'll go catch the killer tonight," Kyuu said with a lighten expression.  
>Dark Magician Girl glances at Kyuu with a confused expression as she urges him to explain his answer. "Look, I'll explain later," Kyuu said as he holds the girl's hands, "Right now, let's go back home. I want to know more about these cards."<p>

Dark Magician Girl is still confused since this is a big city, it's almost impossible to figure out where the killer might strike, but she has faith that her Master knows what he is doing since he's a detective fanatic. As a result, she and Kyuu depart back home.

However, they are unaware that the boy with an eye patch on his right eye and has a small vertical shaped scar beneath his left eye is also at the restaurant sitting across Kyuu's and Minako's table eating some fried chickens. The mysterious boy quickly notices the two and he recognizes them. _"Well… If it isn't the newbie and his pretty Tsukumogami Spirit," _the mysterious boy thought with a grin as he watches the two exits the restaurant.

The mysterious boy begins to get interested with Kyuu and his spirit, so he decides to follow them.

**Kyuu's Home**

**3:40 PM**

"Alright," Kyuu is seen at his room sitting with Minako/Dark Magician Girl.

"Can I still use these cards even at daylight?" Kyuu asks as he picks up his deck from his belt. The girl nods as she explains that a Summoner can draw one card at a time. Once the boy draws a card, he is unable to draw another card until he uses the one at his hand. However, if the card that he draws is irrelevant in battle, he can always put the card back into the deck, but it will magically shuffle his deck.

Kyuu decides to test it out.  
>He picks up one of the cards from his deck and puts it back. As a result, his deck shines with a yellow light as he can hear flipping sounds within the light. Once the light fades, the flipping sounds stop.<p>

"There you go, Master Kyuu. Your deck has been shuffled," Dark Magician Girl said.

She also explains about the Primary Cards.  
>The Primary Cards are the four floating cards with Latin language written on each card. They are the basic cards that can be used on the Tsukumogami Spirits divided into categories: Physical Offense, Physical Defense, Magical Offense, and Magical Defense.<p>

As the names stated, the physical ones are fit for Tsukumogami Spirits that use physical attacks while the magical ones are for the spirits that use magic.

Dark Magician Girl is magic-based so she must use the Magical Offense and Magical Defense. Once a Tsukumogami Spirit merges with a Primary Card, it will give them different powers and abilities.

"Another thing, Master Kyuu, each Summoner has his or her own weapon that takes form of a card at first. At some point, you will draw a Weapon Card, a special type of card that can transform into a weapon for the Summoner," Dark Magician Girl explains as she approaches the boy and points her index finger toward his deck, "Once you are equipped with the weapon, you will no longer be vulnerable. The weapon will give you power no matter how weak you are, so you must use that as an advantage."

"Last night, we manage to beat that man's Tsukumogami Spirit, Ajani. If we manage to defeat our opponent's Tsukumogami Spirits, then we will be declared as winners. However, there is another way to win," Dark Magician Girl said as she looks away with a worried expression, "If… If the Summoner gets hurt and unable to fight any further, then that Summoner will lose even if his or her Tsukumogami Spirits are still fresh."

"So… I guess that's all for today," Dark Magician Girl kindly said.

"Now, Master… Tell me why we're going to find that killer tonight?" the girl asks.  
>"Well, I just notice something," Kyuu decides to explain his answer to the befuddled girl.<p>

"While we were investigating the murder scenes, I notice something…" Kyuu explains while he slowly walks around the room like a detective, "The first victim is found at a park, the second victim is found at a cemetery, the third victim is found at an abandoned apartment, and finally the fourth victim is found at an alley."

"Do you find anything odd about them?"

The girl notices something about the places until she begins to realize what the boy is saying.  
>"Master Kyuu… When we move to one place to another, we seem to arrive at the place a little fast," Dark Magician Girl places four cards in a straight line and imagines the cards as the murder scenes.<p>

She points her finger at the first card as the park and then points at the second card as the cemetery, "These two places are close, so we got to the cemetery in five minutes."

The girl then points her finger toward the third card as the abandoned apartment, "Then we investigate at this apartment, it takes about five minutes to get here."

Finally, she points her finger at the fourth card as the alley, "If we were to go here, then it would take five minutes to get there as well."

"So… You're saying…" Dark Magician Girl finally realizes that the locations are connected and that the killer's next target would be somewhere near the alley. However, the places are dark and gloomy so it's harder for people to see. In other words, these are the perfect locations for the killer to attack his victims without notice.

"So… What's the closest place near the alley?" Dark Magician Girl asks.  
>"Well, there's a bridge with a small canal below it and an old hospital," Kyuu replies.<p>

"…Wow, Master Kyuu… You figure that out all by yourself?" Dark Magician Girl said in awe as she glances at her master with sparkling eyes (a hinted sign of admiration for her master). "Y-Yeah…" Kyuu is rather embarrassed to get a compliment from his Tsukumogami Spirit especially that she is a girl, "Sometimes, the clues can be hiding in our hands all along. Those places ARE the clues to the killer's next move."

"So we either go to the bridge or the hospital. Guess we have to make our move before the killer does," Kyuu said which Dark Magician Girl also agrees.

With that in mind, the two decides to go back outside once it gets dark…

-/-

_Few hours later…_

**Street**

**6:30 PM**

Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl are at the top of a building located between the bridge and the hospital.

"Master Kyuu, are you sure that we should tell your mother that we're going out?" Dark Magician Girl asks, "Your mother said that she's going to prepare a special dinner for us."

"Oh, don't worry, Minako-san. As long as we got home on time, she won't be mad with us," Kyuu sheepishly said as he watches the streets below.

As the boy continues to watch, he immediately notices that the people below begin to fade away!  
>The streets begin to darken as the moon suddenly disappears in the sky. The city itself is covered in darkness as the boy begins to hear loud roars and sword clashes throughout the city.<p>

"…So… We're in the In'ei Reality…"

**-In'ei Reality-  
>Schatten Night<strong>

**Street**

Kyuu doesn't believe it with his own eyes, but his eyes aren't deceiving him as it is clearly real.

As he looks behind to see his friend, he finds that Dark Magician Girl's dress transforms back to her original, blue-colored magician dress.

"So during the In'ei Reality, you'll transform back to your true form," Kyuu assumes as he approaches her.

"Oh, one last thing I have to tell you, Master," Minako suddenly said as she quickly approaches him, "Each night has different type. We're currently under the Schatten Night. It means 'Shadow' in Germany."  
>"During the Schatten Night within the In'ei Reality, the city will be engulfed in darkness so it will be a bit difficult to see," Dark Magician Girl takes out her staff as she uses her magic to create a small, glitter of light to her staff, "If we stay close, we'll be able to see our way through."<p>

"Right, I'll take a look below," Kyuu quickly goes back to the edge of the building's rooftop and watches the streets below, "Let's just hope that we don't fight a Summoner that isn't the killer."

The boy carefully views the city as he looks at the hospital located at the east.  
>All the sudden, he notices a shadowy figure is walking around near the entrance to hospital!<p>

"Oh crap! That must be the killer," Kyuu growls as Dark Magician Girl joins him and sees the shadow at the hospital's entrance. "We gotta get down there right away before that he murders another victim!"

"You got it, Master Kyuu," Dark Magician Girl quickly grabs the boy.

"Whoa, hey, what're you-"  
>Dark Magician Girl suddenly flies in midair whilst holding Kyuu!<p>

"Hold on, we're going down now!" Dark Magician Girl yells as she speeds up her flight much to Kyuu's dismay. Dark Magician Girl flies toward the hospital at great speed hoping to catch up with the killer in time. However, she is oblivious that Kyuu is screaming for his life as she thinks that her master is enjoying with the flight.

**Hospital**

Dark Magician Girl and her master arrive at the hospital's entrance.

She lands safely once she slows down her speed only to notice that Kyuu is having a stroke with his heart pounding heavily.

"Hehe… Sorry, Master Kyuu," Dark Magician Girl nervously said whilst sweat dropping until Kyuu suddenly snaps back to reality. The boy immediately holds the girl by her hand in anger as he scolds her about her 'flight' being too fast that it traumatizes the poor boy. "N-Next time, don't you DARE take me to fly! I-I nearly got a heart attack because of you!" Kyuu angrily said with a flustered expression.

"I'm sorry, Master… I didn't know that I was going too fast," Dark Magician Girl sadly said as she bows to her Master asking for forgiveness.

However, they have no time for that as Kyuu hears someone moaning for help nearby!  
>"Quick, this way!" The two quickly runs to the right where they find someone lying on the ground. To their shock, they see a large figure holding a large axe standing in front of the person. Thankfully, they arrive just time before the figure kills another victim.<p>

"Damn… So this Tsukumogami Spirit belongs to the killer…" Kyuu anxiously said as Dark Magician Girl prepares to fight the figure. As soon as the girl raises her staff to lighten the dark place, they see that the figure is beast-like creature with glowing eyes…

"Hmph, so it's another Summoner…" The beast said in a threatening tone as they see another shadowy figure behind the beast, "But a new one."

Both Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl recognize the humanoid beast… It is _**Vorse Raider**_!

"I have no time for weaklings like you," the shadowy figure said as he reveals to be a man in his mid 30s wearing a formal uniform, "So scram or you will be my master's next victim," the Vorse Raider also said as he aims his large axe toward the two. The spirit's threatening words confirm that the Tsukumogami Spirit does belong to the killer of the Nighttime Murder.

"So… You're behind the murders," Kyuu said in an angered tone, "Why… Why did you killed those people?"  
>"Enough talk, I won't discuss my beliefs to a child like you," the man said as he suddenly shows his deck!<p>

And so, Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl finally meet the mysterious man who is behind the murders as they prepare to fight the killer and his Tsukumogami Spirit… The Vorse Raider.

_**To be continued…**_

**A/N: **Finally, Kyuu and his partner, Dark Magician Girl, confront the killer or is it? The true Tsukumogami War will begin at the next chapter as the two will fight the killer and his Tsukumogami Spirits at his disposal.

The Tsukumogami that appear in this fic are:

**Vorse Raider  
><strong>Known as Blood Vorse in Japan from **Yu-Gi-Oh!** He is a wicked Beast-Warrior who does every horrid thing imaginable and loves it! His axe bears the marks of his countless victims. He is currently the Tsukumogami of a serial killer, but he isn't the only Tsukumogami Spirit that the killer has.


	3. The Dawning Summoner

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own I don't own some of characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There are also OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

**-/-**

"_At daylight, you are safe, but at nighttime, you are in danger._

_The night is where people known as Summoners obtain mysterious beings known as the Tsukumogami spirits. They are ordinary people during the day, but they are Summoners at night. Every night, they engage in a war among themselves for a certain 'gift' that might change their life forever. The winner will stay in the war while the loser will be disqualified from the war. _

_However, it is said that a Summoner does not kill an ordinary person that is not involve in the war. That soon change when a string of mysterious murders begin to take place during the war._

_The murders soon haunt the city where the war takes place._

_What truth lies within the shadows of the night?  
>The answer lies within the war of the Summoners.<em>

_This war is known as… _

_The Tsukumogami War"_

**-/-**

**Tokyo, Japan**

**Hospital**

The city was still dark and the moon was already gone.

Kyuu and his Tsukumogami, Dark Magician Girl, were at the hospital's entrance.

Once there, they have discovered a humanoid beast that appeared to be responsible for the Nighttime Murders.

"Damn… So this Tsukumogami Spirit belongs to the killer…" Kyuu anxiously said as Dark Magician Girl prepared to fight the figure. As soon as the girl raised her staff to lighten the dark place, they could clearly saw who that humanoid Beast was… The _**Vorse Raider**_.

"Hmph, so it's another Summoner…" The beast said in a threatening tone as Kyuu and his Tsukumogami saw another shadowy figure behind the beastman, "But a new one."

"I have no time for weaklings like you," the shadowy figure said as he revealed himself to be a man in his mid 30s wearing a formal uniform, "So scram or you will be my master's next victim," the Vorse Raider also said as he aimed his large axe toward the two. The spirit's threatening words confirmed that the Tsukumogami Spirit did belong to the killer of the Nighttime Murder.

"So… You're behind the murders," Kyuu said in an angered tone, "Why… Why did you killed those people?"  
>"Enough talk, I won't discuss my beliefs to a child like you," the man said as he suddenly showed his deck!<p>

At last, Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl finally meet the mysterious man who is behind the murders as they prepare to fight the killer and his Tsukumogami Spirit… The Vorse Raider.

**-/Tsukumogami War\-  
>XXXXXXX<strong>

**Chapter 3: the Dawning Summoner  
><strong>**-/-**

Dark Magician Girl steps forward to the beast, Vorse Raider, with her master behind her.

"Are you ready, Master?" she whispers.  
>"Yeah, I remember those rules you taught me," Kyuu replies.<p>

Kyuu and the unknown Summoner clench their right hands simultaneously as they summon their respective Primary Cards. They both take out one card among the four.

"_Magus Offensa!__"_

"_Physica Offensa!__"_

The cards burst into shining lights as they merge with the two Tsukumogamis respectively.

**-Summoner Battle!-**

Dark Magician Girl's staff emits a shining aura as it begins to form a small orb at the end of the staff's edge as a result, but Vorse Raider's axe has become even larger and, yet, the beast holds it firmly as if it's light as a feather!

Vorse Raider starts his move by lunging toward the blonde-haired girl.  
>The beast attempts to cut the girl down with his enormous axe, but Dark Magician Girl moves her wand to the right creating a magical barrier to block the beast's attack. "You got him!" Kyuu manages to get behind the beast while holding his card, <strong>Thousand Knives<strong>. The boy uses the Spell Card bursting it into a purple light as knives suddenly appear behind the detective freak.

"W-What!" Vorse Raider quickly notices the boy as the knives are flung toward the beastman! The beast quickly sets his sight on the knives and spins his large axe to repel the knives. However, this is exactly what Kyuu wants him to do because the beast has forgotten to pay close attention to Dark Magician Girl. As a result, Kyuu's Tsukumogami unleashes her purple energy beam from her staff on Vorse Raider's back wounding him.

As the Vorse Raider is stunned by Dark Magician Girl's attack, the remaining knives impale through the Tsukumogami's skin.

The next thing Dark Magician Girl does is sliding around the Tsukumogami until she manages to get in front of the Vorse Raider so she uppercuts the beast with her rod flinging the beast in midair in a stand position. When the Tsukumogami, Vorse Raider, descends to the ground, Dark Magician Girl unleashes a purple-colored force wave that flings the Vorse Raider aside.

"D-Damn," the Vorse Raider scowls while pulling off the knives from his body, "I shouldn't underestimate you. You're a little girl, but you have incredible power."

The Vorse Raider charges toward with great speed and delivers a punch toward her! The punch on her face leaves her stunned as the fierce beast swings his axe with a ferocious force. Dark Magician Girl quickly recovers from the punch when she notices the beast's axe is going slash her, so she blocks the attack with her staff. However, the impact results with the loss of her staff as the enemy Tsukumogami's axe send her staff flying.

Now unarmed, Dark Magician Girl can't use her magic without her staff. The fearsome Vorse Raider attempts to punch her followed by another slash of his large axe, but when he swings a punch, Dark Magician Girl surprisingly catches the beast's incoming punch. "W-What!" The beast is caught by surprise as the girl knee-kicks the beast's abdomen painfully.

The impact stuns the Vorse Raider in an instant as Dark Magician Girl tosses the beast aside! The female Tsukumogami quickly picks up her staff that's lying nearby and unleashes a pair of purple beams at the beast damaging the Tsukumogami Spirit even further.

Kyuu is left speechless and surprised at the same time seeing the girl's physical strength. Not only she's adept to her magic skills, but she has super strength that he had never seen. If she is this strong, who knows how physically strong she can be if Kyuu had used the Offensive primary card. Even though her strength is quite strong, her physical strength isn't enough to hurt the Vorse Raider as it only stuns the monster for a few seconds.

When Dark Magician Girl let her guard down thinking that it is over, the Vorse Raider takes out a large chain and swings it around like a whip. The beast dangles the chain onto Dark Magician Girl and bounds the girl with it leaving her defenseless. "Now hold still!" The Vorse Raider begins to lose his temper because the fact that a little Tsukumogami girl slowly beats him. The girl tries to break free, but it seems that the chains are very strong that she isn't able to break them easily.

The Vorse Raider grabs his axe and charges toward the bounded Dark Magician Girl.

Kyuu, knowing that his Tsukumogami is in danger, quickly draws out a card from his deck. The next card has the image of a blazing trail labeled **Burn Trail**. Kyuu quickly uses the card as a ring of fire suddenly appear surrounding the boy! The fiery ring suddenly slams to the ground before it unleashes a trail of fire toward the charging Tsukumogami!

The Vorse Raider quickly notices the flames that are heading straight to the beast, so the fierce Tsukumogami tries to block the flames with his axe. However, the flames goes pass through him until the Vorse Raider is engulfed by fire! Despite the overwhelming heat, the Vorse Raider tries to withstand the heat and pain that is flowing through his body.

"Okay, that'll keep him in line," Kyuu turns his attention to his Tsukumogami only to see that Dark Magician Girl successfully breaks free from the chains. When the flames are extinguish, the Vorse Raider attempts to continue with his assault, but to his dismay, sees Dark Magician Girl casts a black energy ball at him. The beast is caught off guard as the energy ball explodes when it got close to the enemy Tsukumogami sending the Vorse Raider flying and landing nearby.

Kyuu clenches his fist in excitement knowing that their teamwork is able to wound the Tsukumogami. If he and his partner can continue their teamwork, they'll surely win this fight.

However, Kyuu immediately remembers about the Vorse Raider's master. The young Summoner quickly turns his head to the right and he spots the mysterious man charging toward him with a knife on his hand! "Oh crap!" Kyuu steps to his left and barely evades the man's assault, but the knife manages to slit through his right arm!

"Master!" The blonde girl cries. She hurriedly goes to her master's side and holds his injured arm, "Master, are you okay?" Dark Magician Girl asks. Kyuu nods as a response thought his facial expression doesn't hide the fact that the wound is too painful for him to bear. Dark Magician Girl suddenly generates a soft, blue light from her left hand and places her hand onto the young Summoner's injured arm. To his surprise, the blue light instantly heals his arm.

"Master, please be careful next time. I can't heal you if you die," Dark Magician Girl tells the young boy with a worried expression.

"Huh, impressive," Vorse Raider suddenly appears next to his master, the unknown man, "Not only your magic is powerful, but you're physically strong and you have the ability to heal your Master. Not all Tsukumogamis have that kind of trait."

"Yes… An interesting Tsukumogami indeed… Except for the boy," the enigmatic man said as he cleans up Kyuu's blood that's stained on his knife, "Don't you realize that even Summoners can join the fight? You have a lot to learn about us Summoners and their Tsukumogamis."

"Now it's my turn," the man draws out a card from his deck with the image of a silhouette pounding on the ground labeled **Ground Smash**. The killer uses the card as a green circle appears beneath Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl. "What the-"an invisible force suddenly pounds the two from above! Dark Magician Girl sees this coming when she sees the killer shows the card, so she manages to take the blow for Kyuu. As a result, the invisible force heavily damages her. The force is rather strong as it sends both of them flying away with Dark Magician Girl suffer the worst.

When Kyuu lands nearby, he tries to get up even though the attack also injures him like his Tsukumogami spirit, but not as bad as Dark Magician Girl's. "You're still standing?" the killer twitches his eye, "Then I'll make sure you don't stand up anymore."

The killer orders his Vorse Raider to assault the young Summoner. Quickly to react, Kyuu quickly draws out a card from his deck and sees that the card's image is a large hole with a strange red jewel implanted on the middle of it labeled **Trap Hole**. "Here goes," Kyuu uses the card as fast as he can before the beast can slice him in half.

The **Trap Hole** card suddenly disappears from his hand much to his confusion. The fierce Tsukumogami, Vorse Raider, runs closer to the boy as the beast raises his axe higher in an attempt to cut the boy down until a hole suddenly forms beneath the beast! Vorse Raider falls into the hole.

The hole suddenly blazes with red light sending the Vorse Raider out of the hole. The red light actually injures the beast giving it several bruises on its body and his axe has small cracks on it.

"Whoa…" Kyuu is astonished by the powerful spell that he had just casted on the Tsukumogami. He places his hand on his deck again hoping to use another one to aid his Tsukumogami, Dark Magician Girl, in this fight. Just when he's about to draw it, the killer suddenly lunges toward the boy and attempts to stab him on the heart.

However, Dark Magician Girl charges at the man from the right and pins the killer to the ground.  
>Despite her injuries, she can still move her body. "Dammit, let go!" The killer tries to break free from her grasp, but surprisingly, Dark Magician Girl's strength is beyond human since she's able to hold the man's arms down. "T-Thanks…" Kyuu sighs in relief as the girl smiles at him.<p>

All the sudden, the Vorse Raider appears behind Dark Magician Girl.  
>The Vorse Raider violently pounds the girl's head stunning her. The beast then grabs the girl by her hair and tosses her aside.<p>

"About time, you idiot," the killer scolds the Vorse Raider as he stands up.  
>"Sorry, Master," the Vorse Raider bows.<p>

"I had enough of this," the man draws out a card with the image of a large axe labeled **Axe of Despair**. The enigmatic man uses the card enhancing the Vorse Raider's axe making it even larger and grows small spikes on the edge of its blade. "Not done yet," the man immediately draws another card with the image of a silhouette that is engulfed in red aura whilst raising his arms labeled **Might of Glory**. The man uses the card as the Vorse Raider is engulfed by the same red aura from the card's image.

"Now witness my might!" The Vorse Raider charges toward Dark Magician Girl.  
>The girl tries to take the Vorse Raider down with her purple energy beams, but her magic isn't able to slow down the beast due to the effect of the spell card, <strong>Might of Glory<strong>, which strengthen the beast's skin.

"Oh no!" The girl yelps as she slowly steps backward. Kyuu knows that she's in trouble, so he quickly draws out a card from his deck. Thankfully, he draws out the **Black Staff** card, so he uses the card emitting Dark Magician Girl with purple light as her staff changes into its new form. "T-Thanks, Master!" Dark Magician Girl quickly releases a powerful purple energy onto the Vorse Raider.

To their surprise, even Dark Magician Girl's new staff still isn't able to slow the Vorse Raider down!

"Don't underestimate me!" The Vorse Raider eventually reaches the girl and smashes her with his large axe. Dark Magician Girl tries to block its attack, but the beast's brute strength is too much for her forcing her to kneel down while on her defensive stance. Next, the beast punches the girl by her abdomen with absolute force that it causes severe pain for the girl.

After the fierce punch, the beast then smashes his axe onto the girl, which knocks her down to the ground and the axe's sharp blade stab her from the back. The pain is too much for her to bear as she's already wounded before. Due to the wounds that she suffers, her staff is forced to revert to its normal form.

"Huh, I thought you're tougher than that," the Vorse Raider mocks the girl as he raises his axe. Surprisingly, the axe has none of Dark Magician Girl's blood stained on it. It is because that the Tsukumogami Spirits aren't humans, and thus, they don't have blood. On the girl's back is a black mark of the Vorse Raider's axe.

"D-Dark Magician Girl!" the young Summoner Kyuu can't bear to see her in pain, so he attempts to get to her side until he realizes that his feet can't move. He soon realizes that his opponent, the killer of the Nighttime Murders, is standing right there on his right 2 cm away. If he tries to move, the killer is likely to pursue and kills him with his knives. Kyuu can try to attack the Summoner first, but due to his inexperience in combat and his lack of strength, he's nothing more but an open target. His only hope is the use of his deck.

Just then, Kyuu notices that his deck begins to engulf by a green light for almost a second. He remembers from Dark Magician Girl's earlier explanation that when a Spell Card is already being used in battle, it'll take time for it to replenish its power. Once the card has replenished its power, it will be restored back into this deck though it can sometimes placed itself in random order.

The boy can feel the tension filling the atmosphere when the mysterious man slowly approaches the boy while holding both his yet-to-be-revealed Spell Card and his knife. _"Please… Give me the right combination!"_ Kyuu quickly draws the card before he begins to run for his Tsukumogami Spirit.

The killer, in response to Kyuu's sudden movement, pursues the boy in a fast pace. Before the man can reach the young Summoner, Kyuu uses a card with the image of a shining sphere labeled **Blind Flash**. "W-What?" The man doesn't react to the card until a light suddenly flashes through his eye blinding him!

"_That takes care of him,"_ Kyuu smirks.  
>He eventually gets closer to the Vorse Raider, so he draws out another card and it turns out to be the <strong>Thousand Knives<strong> card! Kyuu immediately uses the card to summon knives around him before the sharp knives are launched toward the Vorse Raider.

Since Vorse Raider doesn't pay attention to the young Summoner, the knives stab the beast on his back! However, even the beast is unfazed by the spell as the enemy Tsukumogami is still standing. The Vorse Raider turns around and glares at the boy who is standing behind him, "You little… That's the second time you use that!" The Vorse Raider attempts to attack Kyuu until Dark Magician Girl suddenly stands up and thrusts her staff onto the Vorse Raider's back before she swings her staff horizontally to force the beast to move to the right and blast him with a large purple energy.

The blast from her magic forces the monster backwards, so Dark Magician Girl has the opportunity to get to her master's side.

"Master…" the girl utters as she kneels down once she's close to Kyuu.  
>Kyuu quickly gets to her and holds her. The young Summoner discovers that her wounds are much deeper than he had thought especially the blade marks on her back.<p>

"Sorry about this," Kyuu draws out a card and, to his relief, it's the **Restoration **spell.  
>"Master… Please don't…" Dark Magician Girl struggles to get up, "If you do that, you'll get tired again…"<p>

"Knock it off, I can't let you fight like this," Kyuu said with a calm tone as he uses the card to surround his Tsukumogami girl with a string of soft light before it slowly releases a crowd of blue orbs at her. Her injuries, including the blade mark, are healed in an instant, but it also results with Kyuu feeling exhausted all the sudden.

"Heh… You risked your life for this girl?" A voice booms in the boy's mind as he realizes that the Vorse Raider is slowly approaching them! He's still uninjured! To the right, Kyuu can see the killer again, who has just recovered from his blindness.

"You do know that you are vital to this fight," the killer said as he draws out another card with the image of a collar that has a mark of a devil labeled **Collar of Destruction**. The mysterious killer uses the card to summon the collar that fits on the Vorse Raider's neck giving him strength that is even more powerful!

"_Shit! At this rate… We're gonna die!"_ Kyuu snarls at the large beast until he kneels on the ground. The boy tries to draw out the card, but his hands feel heavy that he can't even move them. _"I can't use any Spell Cards in this state…"_

Dark Magician Girl looks at her exhausted Master with a worried expression. She realizes that she can't let Kyuu to continue to fight, so she has to fight on her own.

The girl flies toward the large beast and begins to fight the Tsukumogami.  
>She gives everything she got: she bashes the Vorse Raider with her staff and blasts the beast with her purple energy, but to no avail. The Tsukumogami beast counterattacks the girl's movement with several blows from his axe and his fists.<p>

However, she is able to avoid most of his attacks since she's fully healed from her injuries. Despite her advantage, her attacks aren't hurt the beast at all.

The Vorse Raider eventually punches the girl again and, due to her enhancement magic, wounds her as the impact sends the girl flinging backwards. Dark Magician Girl manages to withstand the attack as she notices that she's near her master.

"Hmph, you fought well for a newcomer," the killer smirks whilst watching his Vorse Raider. The man expresses his joy of the battle they just had whilst he turns his attention to the young Summoner and his little magician. "I never felt this excited for years… How I kill them and this fight. I love it," the man grins.

"So… You really are the killer of those Nighttime Murders," Kyuu angrily said as he tries to get up, but due to his fatigued condition, he cannot move his body. The man stands there staring at the boy with a gleeful expression. "Yes, that was all me… I can't believe that I get to kill two people at once, this must be my lucky day," the man immediately orders his Vorse Raider to attack the boy, which the Tsukumogami is glad to obey.

Dark Magician Girl, horrified by the fact that the Vorse Raider is going to kill them both, stands at her current position in fear. She tries her best to defeat the beast, but to no avail.

"Master… I'm sorry, but he's far too strong…"

Those words in her mind are what she wants to say it straight to her master.  
>On the other hand, she can't say those words to her Master. She can't tell why she refuses to tell this to the boy until that boy holds her by her hand. The girl notices that her Master places his hand on his deck indicating that he's willing to aid her in the fight against the Vorse Raider despite being exhausted. This action shocks the female Tsukumogami magician.<p>

"Master Kyuu, don't! You can't use any spells in your current condition! If you use it, then…"  
>"Don't worry about me… I know what I need to do…"<p>

Kyuu stares at the killer who is excited to see his Vorse Raider is going to kill the boy and the girl. He knows what he has to do, as long as that killer still has his status as a Summoner and his Tsukumogami, no one will be safe and the Nighttime Murders will remain unsolved.

"Alright…" Kyuu draws out his card, "It's time to end this."

Upon looking at the card that he had drawn, he begins to smile.  
>Dark Magician Girl notices her Master's smile so she assumes that the boy draws their 'trump card.'<p>

-/-

"Here goes!" Kyuu uses the card, but instead of bursts into purple light, it bursts into a shining yellow light!  
>"W-What!" The light blinds the killer and the Vorse Raider, the bright light does not affect the young magician Tsukumogami and Kyuu.<p>

The card that Kyuu draws is actually a _Weapon Card_!  
>It forms into a sword with a crystallized hilt that shaped like a cross. The sword has a drop pointed blade that has strange marks on it.<p>

Dark Magician Girl glances at the mysterious sword with a shocked expression when she realizes that she had seen the sword before.

"That sword… It's The **Fragarach**!" she cries.

To Kyuu's surprise, the sword instantly cures the boy's fatigue condition.  
>The young Summoner can feel the sword's overwhelming powers flowing into his body. Just as Dark Magician Girl said earlier, no matter how weak Kyuu's body can be, the Weapon Card grants its host power to fight his way through.<p>

When the sword is finally formed and is held by Kyuu, the shining light finally fades away.  
>The killer and the Vorse Raider notice the sword, but even the Fragarach doesn't impress them. "Huh, don't care if you're using a weapon, you still cannot defeat me, Summoner!" the Vorse Raider charges toward the boy attempting to thrust his large axe onto the boy.<p>

When the beast gets close to the boy, Kyuu is suddenly engulfed by wind as the sword's blade begin give out a green aura! "Oh yes I will!" Kyuu suddenly swings his sword in great speed and, to everyone's surprise, heavily damages the Vorse Raider! The beast cries in pain as he quickly backs away from the young Summoner. "Impossible! I-I'm protected by my Master's spells! How could this…" The Vorse Raider examines his own body and discovers a large slash mark on his body.

Despite of being powered by the Spells that grant him brute strength and near invincible protection, the mysterious sword is able to cut through the beast at ease, which surprises the killer. The young magician calls the enigmatic man and his Tsukumogami Spirit explaining that the sword, Fragarach, has the power to see through the Spells' powers and focuses its assault on the real enemy expelling any Spells or anything else that try to hide the enemy from its sight.

"But it's not over yet," Dark Magician Girl turns her attention to her Master Kyuu. They both nod simultaneously as they both charge toward the beast.

"Damn you!" The beast, getting angrier than before, attempts to strike them down with his large axe, but Dark Magician Girl is able to get close to the Vorse Raider and blocks his axe with her wand. The Vorse Raider quickly realizes that he falls for their trap when he notices that Kyuu is right below him!

The magician quickly flies backward when the young Summoner begins to slash the beast rapidly in great speed! The sword allows the boy's swing to move even faster than before. His swings are very fast that the Vorse Raider cannot block his attacks in time. The Fragarach sword proves to be very powerful as every slash it inflicts on the beast is fatal.

Kyuu continues to slash the beast whilst Dark Magician Girl gathers her energy to cast one of her powerful spells.

After a few slashes, Kyuu eventually performs an upward slash that greatly wounds the Vorse Raider. The Spells that power the beast have suddenly disappeared due to the sword's powerful attacks.

The Vorse Raider kneels as a result.

"This… This is not possible," Vorse Raider snarls at the boy.  
>Kyuu slowly steps backward when the Vorse Raider attempts to stand up. Just when Kyuu stops moving, he suddenly turns on his back and raises his sword only to confront the killer, who is trying to stab the boy from behind.<p>

The killer may try to attack Kyuu again, but because of the sword in Kyuu's hand, the boy will cut him down easily due to his new speed.

"S-So fast…" The killer said as a compliment of Kyuu's Fragarach sword.

The fight is far from over as the Vorse Raider finally stands up again for another round. However, the beast is too late when Kyuu's Tsukumogami Spirit, Dark Magician Girl, finally gathers enough energy to cast her powerful spell. "Here goes!" The female Tsukumogami raises her staff and it gives out a large, purple-colored, sphere-shaped energy!

**Dark Burning Attack!**

The girl tosses the sphere toward the beast.  
>In retaliation, the beast swings his large axe onto the energy sphere, but the magician's Dark Burning Attack breaks the beast's axe instead! "THIS CAN'T BE!" The beast is eventually engulfed by the blast. Vorse Raider screams in agony as the black sphere breaks every part of his body until the sphere fades away.<p>

As soon as the **Dark Burning Attack** is subsided, the creature stands there with bruises and slash marks cover his entire body. "This can't be… Beaten by a couple of… Brats…" Vorse Raider eventually falls to the ground. Once his body lays on the ground, the beast transforms into a glittering light and it merges to the killer's knife indicating that the knife is the beast's artifact.

The knife suddenly shatters into pieces.

"…I-I've lost?" The man befuddled.

**-Summoner Battle is over-**

The fight is long and tough, but Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl emerge victoriously.

The Fragarach sword fades back into Kyuu's deck as the young Summoner turns his attention to the killer. The serial killer eventually kneels in defeat.

"You know the rules… You're stripped out of your powers as a Summoner," Kyuu slowly approaches the man. Since the killer has lost the fight, his artifact with the Vorse Raider spirit in it is broken and his deck has disappeared as a result.

"You've murdered those people… Just why?"

"You really wanna know? Because I want to kill…" The man grins with his eyes close, "I was bored to death that I don't have anything to do in life, but when I have this power, I find it satisfying! Just to see their pathetic little faces when I stole their lives! It was great!" The man deliberately confesses his insanity and his lust of killing people just to be satisfied.

The boy and the Tsukumogami girl are clearly disgusted by the man's insanity. Kyuu wants to hand him over to the authorities, but he doesn't have any evidence that will help him to turn him over to the police especially that the man is involved in the Tsukumogami War.

"…So what are you going to do now? Kill me?" the man asks with a grin.  
>However, Kyuu turns his back on the man as a response. "No… I'm not sick like you. You're just a sad soul," the boy said before he starts to approach his latest victim. It is another woman in her 30s and, thankfully, she's not dead. She's still alive but unconscious. "Little brat, if you let me go, I'll just continue to kill people," the killer adds.<p>

"No, I'm afraid that's impossible for you," Kyuu said with his back turn on the killer, "You don't have the brains to cover up your tracks in the real world. Without your power as a Summoner, you are just an ordinary criminal who will be captured sooner or later."

The killer widens his eyes in shock; he realizes that the boy is right. If he tries to kill another victim, the police will identify him as a killer. Thus, it ends his killing spree. The man punches his fist on the ground in frustration as Kyuu and his Tsukumogami Spirit leaves the hospital while the magician girl carries the unconscious woman.

-/-

At the hospital's rooftop, a mysterious man, wearing black jacket with a hood on it whilst wearing a black-colored Full Frontal Mask with red-colored eyes, is sitting on the rooftop's ground while looking down.

"Hmm… From the length of the fight and how the kid fights, looks like he's still new to this 'war,'" the man stands up, "But… To have 'his' Tsukumogami is quite of a surprise."

By then, a silhouette of the mysterious man's Tsukumogami appears behind him as he watches Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl walking away.

-/-

**-In'ei Reality fades-**

Their fight is over as the In'ei Reality has finally subsided.

Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl/Minako return to their home in time for the 'special dinner' that Kyuu's mom arranges. They warmly welcome the girl as to the family much to Minako's relief and happiness. She's overjoyed by, not just the victory over the killer, but by the fact that they welcome her.

The next day, everyone in the city discovers the killer.  
>The authorities claim that they found the killer trying to attack another victim at 5:00 AM in an alley, but the killer isn't aware that the police is on patrol so the killer is easily captured. The killer is finally apprehended and the Nighttime Murder case is solved.<p>

**Kyuu's Home**

**11:20 AM**

At Kyuu's room, the boy is seen watching outside the window. He can't believe what happen the previous two nights especially that he's involved in the Tsukumogami Wars. Yet, he manages to pull through and wins in the end.

However, even though the Nighttime Murder is solved, he realizes something else after experiencing the war.

He remembers from Dark Magician Girl that the Tsukumogami War lasts ever since the 16th century. Yet, even until this very day, there still hasn't been any winner in this war since more and more newcomers enter the war. This makes the Tsukumogami War an endless war with no winner if new Summoners continue to enter.

Other than that, Kyuu wonders who exactly makes this terrifying war in the first place. He also believes that he can't let anyone else use that war as a tool for crimes like that killer that he fought last night, especially leaving this 'gift' to fall to the wrong hands.

After thinking about these issues about the Tsukumogami War, he resolves that he have to enter the war no matter what and discover the truth behind it. Even though there might be even tougher Summoners out there, he's still determined to discover the truth of the war.

Dark Magician Girl, now as Minako in her silk dress, approaches the boy from behind.  
>"You did great last night, Master," she said joyfully laying her head on Kyuu's right shoulder, which makes him blush for a girl to lay her head on his shoulder, "I have a good feeling that this just the start of a new life," she smiles gently, which embarrasses the boy even further.<p>

"Hey, Dark Magician Girl…" The boy calls her name.  
>She raises her head from the boy's shoulder and glances at him with a smile. "Listen, thanks for taking care of me, but… Please, don't be too overprotective," Kyuu said to her.<p>

"Huh? But Master Kyuu, I'm your Tsukumogami. It's my duty to protect!"  
>"I know, but that doesn't mean I always needed protection."<p>

"Even if you're a Tsukumogami, but you also have a life. I don't want you to sacrifice yourself blindly," Kyuu said to her sparking a concern over the blonde-haired girl. The Tsukumogami, Minako, stands there looking at her Master. "You're not a servant. You're my partner, Minako…"

"P… Partner?"  
>"Yeah, this is our war, not just mine. So stick with me, okay?"<p>

Those very words have touched the girl's heart.  
>She knows that her Master is quite different from the other Summoners, treating her like a human not just a servant. The Tsukumogami magician begins to think if there are other people treat their Tsukumogamis the same way as Kyuu did. She gently smiles at the young boy and nods.<p>

"Yes, Master Kyuu," she said.

Little do they know, this is just the beginning of a new life as a Summoner with tense challenges and adventures waiting for them in the future.

**End of the Dawning**

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay, I've been very busy lately. This chapter ends the 'Dawning' arc. The next arc will feature similar storyline as Detective School Q, but with more Summoners and Tsukumogamis waiting for them. In addition, Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl will meet a new Tsukumogami that will join them.

See you at the next chapter!


	4. The Beginning of Fate

**xDISCLAIMER: **I don't own I don't own some of characters in the story. The characters that will appear in this fic are owned by their respective owners. There are also OCs that are owned by their respective authors.

**-/-**

"_At daylight, you are safe, but at nighttime, you are in danger._

_The night is where people known as Summoners obtain mysterious beings known as the Tsukumogami spirits. They are ordinary people during the day, but they are Summoners at night. Every night, they engage in a war among themselves for a certain 'gift' that might change their life forever. The winner will stay in the war while the loser will be disqualified from the war. _

_However, it is said that a Summoner does not kill an ordinary person that is not involve in the war. That soon change when a string of mysterious murders begin to take place during the war._

_The murders soon haunt the city where the war takes place._

_What truth lies within the shadows of the night?  
>The answer lies within the war of the Summoners.<em>

_This war is known as… _

_The Tsukumogami War"_

**-/-**

**Tokyo, Japan**

It has been two days since the Nighttime Murders.

The case was closed with the apprehension of the serial killer. Even though the authority never learned of the mysterious Tsukumogami War, they assumed that with the killer in custody, the city would be safe again. However, ever since that gruesome event, the street seemed much more frightening than usual.

People have started to say that they heard strange noises at night.  
>Some have also said that they saw shadowy figures roaming throughout the street.<br>Some even claimed that some people have disappeared during the night, but they have shown up during daylight.

Of course, not all people believed them.

However, later that night in the 2nd day after the case's resolution, something had happened.

**Street  
>12:10 AM<strong>

A pair of thugs is hiding underneath a bridge. Each of them wears a mask to avoid recognition from any witnesses.

These thugs are actually part of a criminal group that has been smuggling drugs for two months. Apparently, they were called by one of their friends to this area for a meeting in secret. "Alright, what's keeping him so long? We've been here for an hour," one of the thugs grumbles, "That bastard better had a good excuse for dragging us here this late."

The two thugs wait impatiently for their comrade.  
>The cold night is giving the chills for these hooligans and the darkness makes the atmosphere even more frightening.<p>

Eventually, they hear someone running through the bridge's ground and lands near the thugs' location. The thugs instantly recognize the person as their comrade. The man is covered in sweats with a fearful look on his face. The thugs immediately know that something isn't right.

"Hey, man. What's wrong with ya?" one of the thugs asks.

"S-Someone's after us," the man said to the thugs with a terrified expression much to the confusion of the thugs, "H-He already killed our pals! Now he's after me!"

"W-What? Who?" the thugs quickly ask their friend until they hear sounds of what appears to be an electrical charge. The men are startled by the electrical sound as they quickly look above the bridge. They find two shadows of human and a large, robot-like figure respectively. The shadowy human glares at the thugs and said, "I've already killed all of your buddies."

The thugs quickly recognize the man's face as they sprint backward from the shadowy human, "Y-You! But I thought you're dead!" one of the thugs yells.

The shadowy man glares at the yelling thug, "I came back for only one, simple thing," the shadowy figure said when the two thugs draw their guns out. "…Revenge," the shadowy figure raises his hand signaling the robot-like figure to do its part; it raises its hands emitting a strange magnetic field! Since the guns are made of metal, the guns are pulled onto the figure's hands!

The shadowy man suddenly casts a storm of lightning bolts onto the two thugs and their scared comrade killing them in an instant!

"…Justice has been served…" the figure utters with a monotone voice… This clearly shows that the unknown figure is another Summoner.

-/-

The mysterious man tosses the bodies of the thugs into the river.

It appears that the unknown figure has been killing a certain criminal group with the three thugs as his latest victims. The shadowy human has already killed the entire criminals in one night thanks to his Summoner spells and his yet-to-be-revealed Tsukumogami.

However, there's only one criminal left that he wants to kill, but the Summoner is unable to find the criminal anywhere. The shadowy Summoner is upset that he can't locate the final member of the criminal group until another shadowy figure that looked like a large dragon appears next to the metallic figure.

"Having trouble finding your man?" the shadowy dragon asks.  
>"Hmph… You think?" the Summoner retorts.<p>

The unknown Summoner tells his Tsukumogamis that they're going home now. As the Summoner walks his way back home, he takes out a certain paper from his pocket: a _DDS entrance form_.

**-x-**

**Opening Theme: Wild Fang (by Janne De Arc)**

_(Opening instrumental)_

[Scenes of Kyuu Renjo and a mysterious boy named Yomi in the streets at night; a close-up view of Tokyo with Summoners spreading all over the city]_  
>Togisumasareta tsume wo tate<br>Ima kagayaku tame ni sono  
>kiba wo muke<em>

[Enemy Summoners surround Kyuu and Yomi as Kyuu suddenly raises a card to summon Dark Magician Girl into battle and attacks the enemies]_  
>Shiren wa norikoerarenai<br>Hito ni osoikakari wa shinai_

**-/Tsukumogami War\-  
>XXXXXXX<strong>

[Dark Magician Girl stands behind Kyuu as Kyuu look at her who is smiling back him; Yomi watches the city at night as a crow lands on his left shoulder]_  
>Tsukuri warai… Sono mama na no?<br>Shiawase na no? Uso wa nai?_

[Shadowy images of Megumi Minami, Kazumi Asakura, Fuyuki Hinata, Rin Tohsaka, Kyon, Haruhi Suzumiya, Yuki Nagato, Nina Sakura, Tamaki, Suoh, and an unknown boy]  
><em>Tojikomete shimau koto ga<br>Kashikoku ikiru koto ja nai_

[Dark Magician Girl is alone in a mysterious sanctuary as she sees a ghostly figure of her previous 'master' until she suddenly snaps back to reality and finds herself in Kyuu's house]  
><em>Migi ni narae… Sore de ii no?<br>Sore ja tada no kikai ja nai?_

[Close-up views of Konoka Konoe, Tamaki, Rin Tohsaka, Kyon, and Yomi]  
><em>Tsumetai karada no naka no<br>atsui tamashii wo yobisamase_

[A Summoner summons White Night Dragon and orders it to attack another Summoner]  
><em>Daremo mina mune no oku ni<em>

[Located in the city at night, Konoka summons Head Huntress while Fuyuki summons Abe no Seimei, Kazumi summons Justimon while Yuki summons Deoxys, Tamaki summons Baldr while Nina summons Mystical Elf, an unknown boy summons Blackwing Armor Master while a man with an eye patch summons Tigrex]_  
>nemuru "yasei" wo yadoshiteru<br>Toki ni wa kusari hazushite_

[Kyuu summons Dark Magician Girl while Yomi summons Bahamut]  
><em>Chi wo nagase!<em>

[Kyuu's Tsukumogami Spirits (Dark Magician Girl and two shadowy figures) attack enemy Summoners' spirits as Yomi orders Bahamut attack a Summoner that summons Godzilla]  
><em>Togisumasareta tsume wo tate<br>Ima kagayaku tame ni sono  
>kiba wo muke<em>

[Kyuu (Dark Magician Girl) and Yomi (Haseo) face two unknown Summoners with their Tsukumogami Spirits, Predator and Dark Necrofear]  
><em>Hadaka ni natte tokihanateba<br>Kanashimi mo keseru_

[Kyuu and Yomi use their respective Spell Cards to obtain their 'weapons' as they fight other with their Tsukumogami Spirits by their side]  
><em>Sukoshi hamidashitemo kamawanai<br>Kimi wa kimi no tame ni  
>gamushara ni nare<em>

[Close-up view of Kyuu and his Tsukumogami Spirits (Dark Magician Girl and two unknown Tsukumogamis) with Yomi and his Tsukumogami Spirits (Haseo, Yatagarasu, and Bahamut) before it changes to the view of the city]_  
>Shiren wa norikoerarenai<br>Hito ni osoikakari wa shinai_

**-x-**

_Later that morning…_

**Kyuu's Home**

Ever since the day Dark Magician Girl appeared, the house appeared to be much livelier than before. Under the name, Minako (wears a modern silk dress with a pendant that has a blue-colored crystal to fit in with society rather than her signature magician dress), Dark Magician Girl has been helping with the house a lot.

Over the past two days, Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl have slowly become close as friends with the Tsukumogami girl manages to familiarize with the Modern world.

At times, she had cleaned up the kitchen and prepared breakfast for Kyuu and his mother.

That morning, Minako has just finished prepare breakfast. She's wearing her apron and holding a ladle.  
>The table has been filled with your traditional Japanese cuisine: rice, seafood, and fermented foods. Dark Magician GirlMinako was rather a skillful cook since most of her foods were always delicious. "Well, that takes care of it~" Minako cheerfully said.

"Minako-chan, you're awake?" Kyuu's mother enters the room in her pajamas.  
>Minako cheerfully nods as she puts her ladle on the kitchen's sink and places her apron on her chair.<p>

Over the past days, Minako and Kyuu's mother have been close as the young, cute Tsukumogami looks up to her Master's mother as her own surrogate mother. Kyuu's mother has even scolded her for a mistake she has done yesterday so Minako learned from her mistake and became even better.

"Eh? Where's Kyuu-san?" Minako asks her Master's mother.

It turns out that her Master, Kyuu, is still sleeping in his room. The boy has always been lazy if it comes to wake up from sleeping, so someone always has to wake him up for him. We can see that the boy enjoys sleeping on his futon.

Minako/Dark Magician Girl unexpectedly appears next to the boy's futon.  
>"Master… Wake up," Minako quietly said to Kyuu in a kind tone. She gently pushes the boy by his arm, but the boy is still asleep. When she pushes the boy's arm a little hard though gently, the boy starts to wake up with his eyes slowly open. "Come on, Master, it's already 6 o'clock, it's time to wake up," Minako said to Kyuu.<p>

"…Five more minutes," the boy yawns as he goes back to sleep.

"Moouu… Again?" Dark Magician Girl/Minako groans while she twitches her forehead. The blonde-haired girl stands up as she suddenly grabs a bucket of cold water! "I'm so sorry, Master," Minako bows her head, "But you ask for it!"

Minako immediately splashes the cold water on her Master!  
>Kyuu screams aloud echoing throughout the house.<p>

**Chapter 4: The Beginning of Fate**  
><strong>--**

"G-Geez!" Kyuu and Minako are at the table with Kyuu's mother.  
>The boy is clearly annoyed by Minako's method of wakeup calls though his mother rather likes it since her own son is pretty much a sleepyhead, not to mention an early bath.<p>

"I told you, you left me no choice, Kyuu-san. If I didn't wake you up sooner, you would've overslept again," Minako kindly said as a response to Kyuu.

"But Minako!" Kyuu moves closer to his Tsukumogami in irritation, "That was too cold! Are you trying to give me the fever?"

"Actually, it's the opposite way. Cold water makes you feel more relaxed and healthier," Minako/Dark Magician Girl calmly explains to her Master, Kyuu, despite his negative reaction towards her action, "Besides, that's the only way to wake you up."

Kyuu sighs while twitching his eye while Kyuu's mother chuckles to see the two kids arguing.  
>"Glad to see you two getting along," Kyuu's mother said to her son and their new friend.<p>

The family soon enjoys their breakfast until they're done.

Apparently, Kyuu's mother has to go now because she has a job interview and it starts in an hour. Kyuu and Minako are left in charge with the house, but Kyuu still has school today so he has to go sooner. School's hour starts in an hour in a half, so Kyuu doesn't have to worry about being late thanks to Minako's wakeup call.

Kyuu then turns his attention to his 'partner,' Dark Magician Girl/Minako, who is currently cleaning up the table.  
>"Here, let me help," Kyuu said to Minako as he starts to pick up the plates.<p>

**Street**

Kyuu and Minako/Dark Magician Girl are on their way to school.

The young boy still has school until his graduation next month though he's not planning to go to any high schools. As they walk through the street, the two partners have a conversation with each other. Dark Magician Girl learns most of the Modern world from Kyuu though she tends to hear her Master's stories of the detective genre.

They have been talking for the entire walk until they stumble across a TV store where one of the televisions shows the recent news report of bizarre murders that took place last night. The news attracts both Kyuu and Minako's attentions.

The news shows various locations of the murders, which includes an apartment, the alley, and the river. The police report that the cause of death is almost the same with each victim: electrocution. To add more disturbances into the murder case, there are no witnesses during the time of deaths. Now people begin to think that the new murder case is connected to the Nighttime Murder case.

Like the Nighttime Murder case, the identity of the killer is unknown for the time being.

"…Another one," Kyuu mutters as Minako nods. They both suspect that another Summoner is behind this murder. As Kyuu had promised earlier, he's willing to stop anyone from using the 'Tsukumogami War' for evil intentions. "Well then," Kyuu happily said as he quickly looks at his Tsukumogami, Dark Magician Girl, "Shall we investigate the case immediately?"

With a smile, Minako place her hand on Kyuu's shoulder.  
>"Kyuu-san… Have you forgotten about your school?" she kindly asks.<p>

"Eh? OH NO!" Kyuu quickly yelps afterwards. The boy looks at the time on his watch and notices that he's almost late for school. "W-We'll do it later after school!" Kyuu yells again in stressed tone as he quickly runs toward school with Dark Magician Girl/Minako follows from behind.

-/-

Thankfully, they're already close to the school so Kyuu isn't late at all.

Tons of junior high students are already in the school with some doing their morning activities and hang out with their other friends before school time. Many students especially Kyuu's class are excited that they're going to be graduated at Friday; everyone (except for Kyuu) has already got plans for their graduations and know which high schools they're going to sign up.

Kyuu and Dark Magician Girl/Minako are hiding behind a building next to the school.

"Alright," Kyuu turns his attention to Minako, "Remember. Please don't do anything funny, Dark Magician Girl. I mean it or people will think I'm crazy."

Since he watches a lot of movies with similar situation he's currently in, the detective fanatic fears that his Tsukumogami would do something very stupid such as talking to him causing everyone around him to think he's talking to himself.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Master," Dark Magician Girl said to Kyuu with a cheerful smile, "I won't cause any trouble. I'll just stay in my artifact until school's over."

Kyuu sighs in relief as he has hoped that Dark Magician Girl understands him.  
>A voice suddenly calls out Kyuu's name much to their surprises. MinakoDark Magician Girl quickly transforms herself into a pink light and dives into Kyuu's pocket. Inside the pocket lies her artifact, the blank card with silver lines.

The boy quickly turns around and sees one of his classmates, Mizuki, the short black-haired girl who has a slightly tomboyish personality.

Mizuki happened to pass by the building until she heard Kyuu's voice, so she has decided to check it out and found the detective fanatic. Luckily, she didn't see his Tsukumogami.

"Kyuu, what're you doing here? And who're you talking to?" Mizuki asks while raising her left eyebrow.  
>The boy chuckles nervously as he approaches Mizuki, "N-Nothing! I was just talking to myself. You know, to support myself," Kyuu nervously said as he quickly pushes Mizuki to the school's area.<p>

"H-Hey, stop pushing me!" Mizuki angrily said.  
>"J-Just hurry or we'll be late for class!" Kyuu nervously yelps as they reach the school's gate.<p>

"_Geez… This feels just like one of those animes…"_

-/-

Meanwhile on a lone apartment, a girl with a pink, pigtail-hairstyle girl dressed in pink middle school watches a TV. The TV's program shows the current news of the horrific murders that took place last night. The pink haired girl is clearly disgusted to see the murders.

"Oh my God… Another one?"  
>The dreadful scenes of the murders clearly disgust the pink-haired girl that she decides to change the channel. The recent murders (including the Nighttime Murders) have scared the girl that she can't relax even if she hears a quiet, calm music.<p>

As she flips the channels to find something interesting on TV, her cell phone suddenly rings.

The girl answers her cell phone.

"_Hey, Megumi-chan. It's me.__"_

"Nee-chan!" The girl shouts with a joyful tone as she lowers the TV's volume down.

"_I'd thought I should give you a call. Sorry I didn't call recently, been pretty busy lately in Jakarta. How're you doing now? You're not feeling lonely, are you?__"_

"Oh, I'm fine, Nee-chan. I'm finally getting used to it," the girl said to her sister on the phone, "But Tokyo's been a bit creepy lately. Have you heard the news?"

"_Yeah, I couldn't imagine how creepy it was. It's just like one of those thriller movies.__"_

The girl nods in agreement, she looks outside the window. She sees numerous police cars racing throughout the street, so she thinks that the police are on their way to the other scenes of the murder case.

She hopes that her sister will come home sooner since she is not feeling more comfortable living alone, not with the recent murder.

"Nee-chan, how long are you going to be at Jakarta?" The girl decides to ask her sister straight out.

"_I'm not really sure… I'll probably be back next week if they lay off the work on me. In the mean time, you should lock all doors every night.__"_

"Okay then," the girl replies with a relieved tone.  
>The girl wants to talk with her sister a little longer, but her sister tells her that she has to go immediately.<p>

"_I'm really sorry that I have to go soon, but I promise that we'll talk a bit longer when I got enough time. You take yourself, okay?__"_

"Okay, nee-chan. Take care too."

The pink-haired girl puts her phone down after the call.

The girl feels a bit more relaxed since she's able to her sister who's currently at Indonesia, Jakarta.  
>After she watches the television for thirty minutes, she decides to go outside hoping that she can get feel more relaxed.<p>

**School**

Few hours have passed and school is finally over.

The students are overjoyed since they have numerous plans for today.

The entire students leave their classes and prepare to return homes, but some students decide to hang out at other places. Among the students are Kyuu's best friends, Satoru, Yusuke, and Daisuke. Those boys decide to go to their usual place at a nearby mall.

Kyuu, on the other hand, isn't planning to go with his friends. The boy has to shop at his mother's favorite grocery store for dinner. While Dark Magician Girl makes breakfast, the boy's mom is in charge with dinner.

The boy is at the second floor's hallway when his classmates have left the class.  
>"Alright," Kyuu quietly said to himself with a smile as he takes out a small note that contains the grocery list. He's rather excited because he, as a detective fanatic, deduces tonight's dinner, which happens to be one of his favorites.<p>

"_Master Kyuu,"_ a Dark Magician Girl's voice suddenly calls the boy's name. The Tsukumogami girl is able to talk to her Master telepathically from her artifact. That way, no one else can hear her voice but Kyuu.

"_Do you always sleep in classes? I thought that's against the school rules,"_ the girl said to her master, but the detective fanatic just shrugs, "Hehe, I'm kinda bored and tired, so I thought I should take a nap for awhile," Kyuu chuckles with a goofy smile.

"_Master, that's really not good for you. If I didn't wake you up sooner, your teacher will catch you,"_ Dark Magician Girl begins to lecture her Master about morality and duty as a fellow student.

"Oh boy… Here we go again," Kyuu sighs with his head lowered.

Dark Magician Girl will lecture him whenever he does something wrong as if she's his own mother. Her lectures are usually long and boring.

The boy continues walk while Dark Magician Girl lectures him even longer to respect his teacher and his school before he graduates. It doesn't take long when Dark Magician Girl suddenly appears next to him! "Master Kyuu, are you even listening?" she quietly asks with an infuriated tone.

Kyuu yelps when he sees his Tsukumogami appears before his very own eyes as he quickly looks around. Thankfully, there's no one around in the hallway.

"D-Dark Magician Girl, w-what're you doing?" Kyuu nervously asks with a whisper as he quickly clinches on her forcing her to turn into a light again. She quickly returns to her artifact, the blank card in Kyuu's pocket.

"Hello, is someone there?" A feminine voice suddenly calls out.

Kyuu gasps when he hears the voice. He looks around the hallway nervously hoping that no one has seen Dark Magician Girl transforms into a light and zaps back to her artifact. He eventually notices one of his female classmates, Yumi, the long blonde-haired wearing glasses.

"Oh, it's you, Kyuu-san. You're going home already?" Yumi kindly asks.  
>To Kyuu's relief, Yumi doesn't seem to see Dark Magician Girl or her light, so his secret is still safe.<p>

"N-Not really, I got some shopping to do for my mom, so I gotta get to the grocery store," Kyuu said back with a nervous look on his face.

"Kyuu-san, are you okay? You looked rather… Stressed," Yumi said while raising her right eyebrow, but the detective boy reassures the glasses-wearing girl that he's okay.

"…Kyuu-san…" the girl utters the boy's name with a befuddled look written on her face while lowering her head.

"…Are you sure that you don't want to continue your high school? What you said before had been bothering me lately," Yumi said to Kyuu as she focuses her eyes on the detective fanatic.

"Well, I am serious about it. I really am not going to any high school, none of them seem to interest me," the boy freely admits it to the glasses-wearing girl. As he had stated before, his only interest is detective. "Detective, huh? You're still on with that detective stuff?" Yumi asks again.

"Yup!" Kyuu cheerfully answers with a goofy smile, "If there was a high school for detectives, I would definitely join in."

Yumi giggles when the boy mentions a detective school. She does find Kyuu funny even though he can be weird at times, which is why some students seem to like him despite his weirdness and childish antics. However, things will get quiet once they're graduated since they're going to different high schools, which is quite sad as Yumi hopes that she and the rest of her friends can go to the same high school.

"Still… It's not gonna be the same with you, Mizuki-san, or the others," Yumi sadly said as she lowers her head again.

Though shy to admit it, Kyuu has the exact feeling with Yumi; he is going to miss his classmates. "Well, we're bound to go our separate ways," Kyuu scratches the back of his head, "I guess we all have different dreams. But even so, we might meet again in the future."

"I guess you're right," Yumi quietly said with a smile.

"Well, I gotta go now. I'll see you tomorrow," Kyuu bids his friend farewell. He walks down the stairs to the first floor as Yumi watches him leave the second floor.

The boy eventually exits the school building.

**Street**

"G-Geez, that's a close one," Kyuu sighs whilst walking throughout the street.

Next to the boy with the weird black-white hair is Dark Magician Girl in her guise as Minako.

"Sorry about it, Master, I guess I didn't think carefully," Minako apologetically said to her Master.  
>"Nah, I should be the one who say sorry. If I didn't pay much attention to you, it wouldn't ever happen," Kyuu also apologetically said to her.<p>

"But that girl… She's your classmate, right?" Minako asks relating to Yumi. The boy explains that he had known Yumi ever since he started middle school.

According to Kyuu, Yumi is a sweet, caring girl who's quite feminine and a sensible one although she's prone to laugh at something she considers funny just like how she likes to giggle on Kyuu's antics. She's incredibly smart with her main focus on biology. She dreams to be a biologist like her parents. Not to mention, she really likes cute stuff.

Minako can see that Yumi is emotional from the looks of her face when she's going to be separated from her best friends. "You really sure you're not going to any high school at all?" Dark Magician Girl asks her Master again, "I felt sorry for her and… I think you should at least try one out starting with Yumi's high school, maybe you'll like it."

"I already told you, I made up my mind. I ain't goin' to any high schools, but I'm sure that we'll meet again someday," Kyuu optimistically said.

Minako/Dark Magician Girl starts to ask her Master about his other friends, but before Kyuu can tell his Tsukumogami girl about the rest of his classmates, the boy accidentally bumps toward an old man who appears to be in his late fifties carrying a wallet and an umbrella. Upon the impact, the old man accidentally drops some of his money bills from his wallet while Kyuu is pushed backwards and it causes the blank card from his pocket to drop out from the boy's pocket.

"S-Sorry!" Kyuu yelps as he quickly picks up the bills for the old man while Minako picks up her blank card.

The commotion also attracts the attention of people that are passing by the street. The boy successfully picks up all the money on the ground and gives them back to the old man. "Be careful next time, kid," the old man said as he starts to count his money.

"…Huh? HEY!" The old man suddenly grabs the boy by his collar much to Minako's surprise! "There's ten thousand yen missing!"

"E-Eeehh?" Minako yelps when the old man accuses Kyuu for stealing his money.

"W-Wait, I wouldn't do that-"  
>"Don't lie to me!"<p>

The people watch the commotion as they commenting about how bad teenagers today. The boy, supported by his Tsukumogami, tries to convince the old man that he does not stole his money until an officer arrives at the scene. "What's going on here?" the cop asks.

"Officer, this brat took my money!" The old man angrily tells the cop.  
>"W-We told you, I really didn't," Kyuu said back as Minako approaches the cop, "Really, sir. He really didn't do it," she said to the cop.<p>

"Then why is it missing, huh!" The old man angrily retorts at the two, "Or maybe you're part of this!"  
>"M-Me?" Minako yelps with teary eyes, "B-But I'm not…"<p>

"Don't play dumb me!"  
>The old man becomes even more hostile towards the two as the cop tries to calm the old man down with little success.<p>

Just when the situation can get any worse, one of the people that watch the commotion steps out from the crowd and said, "118 thousand yen."

Kyuu, Minako, the old man, and the cop notice a girl with a pink, pigtail-hairstyle girl dressed in pink middle school in front of the crowd.

"118 thousand yen, that's the amount that was scattered on the ground. To be exact, 9 ten thousand bills, 5 five thousand bills, and 3 one thousand bills," the pink-haired girl calmly explains to the four people. She then asks the officer to count the money, so the cop does what she requests.

"…That's right! That's exactly right!" The cop is astonished that the girl guesses it right; the numbers of each bill are exactly what she had said much to the surprise of everyone in the commotion even Kyuu and Minako are surprised.

"That means he didn't steal it."

"W-Wait a minute!" The old man shouts again, "I just withdrew 100 thousand yen. There can't only be 9 ten thousand yen bills!"

Suddenly, Kyuu takes the old man's umbrella.  
>"W-What're you doing?" Minako nervously asks.<br>"What, you wanna fight?" The man viciously said as he poses his defensive stance, boxing style to be exact.

The black-white-haired boy just smiles as he opens the umbrella.  
>Surprisingly, a 10 thousand yen bill falls from within the umbrella much to everyone's surprise!<p>

"Here you go," Kyuu picks up the money bill and hands it over to the old man.

"Glad that you didn't lose it."

-/-

"Geez, I'm really sorry. I blew my top," the old man takes the three kids, Kyuu, Dark Magician Girl/Minako, and the pink-haired girl at a nearby restaurant.

The old man wants to apologize to the three kids for the misunderstanding, so he wants to treat them at the restaurant where the prices are cheap but the food is great. "This is on me, order whatever you want," the man said to the kids.

"Really?" The pink-haired girl is surprised, but she kindly accepts the old man's offer, "Okay, I'll have a chocolate parfait."

"How about you two?" the old man asks Kyuu and Minako.

"W-Well… We're having dinner at home, so…" Kyuu shyly said, but the man tells the boy that it's okay. The old man said that dinner is just dinner, so he can just order a snack for once.

Kyuu looks at his blonde-haired friend as they both nod.  
>"Okay, we'll have chocolate parfaits too."<p>

"There you go," the old man is satisfied with smile.

The old man pays the parfaits, but he has to leave soon since he has to run to the station to get a ticket or else it will sell out. His daughter is going to marry in Hokkaido tomorrow. The money that he had withdrawn was actually presents for his daughter. The old man looks at his wristwatch and notices that it's almost time, so he has to go now.

"Well, sorry about earlier. I've already pay those, so enjoy them," the old man waves goodbye to the three kids as he leaves the restaurant.

"…He left," the pink-haired girl utters when the waitress arrives at their seats with their parfaits.  
>"Well, since he had paid for it, let's eat," Dark Magician GirlMinako said as the pink-haired girl nods in agreement.

"Oh, by the way," Minako turns her attention to the pink-haired girl, "I'm Minako."  
>"K-Kyuu… I'm Kyuu and I'm a senior in junior high," Minako's Master also introduces himself to the girl.<p>

"I'm _**Megumi Minami**_, I'm also a senior in junior high," the girl, Megumi, also introduces herself to the boy and the blonde girl.

"Oh, so we're the same age!" Kyuu cheerfully said, "I thought you were older than me!"  
>"…Do I look that old?" Megumi asks while sweat dropping, Minako is also sweat dropping since her Master is embarrassing himself in front of another girl.<p>

**6:30 PM**

It's almost nighttime, the lights in the street are turn on one by one and some people start to go out.

Kyuu walks around the lone street with the girls, Minako and Megumi. Their paths to their respective homes are the same though at the last checkpoint, they have to separate to get to their homes. In fact, they have some fun spending time together as Kyuu finds Megumi attractive.

While on their way back, Kyuu explains to the girls about his solution earlier.  
>The boy explains that the old man didn't look like he was lying and, yet, no one else could have taken the money. That could mean the money must have disappeared somewhere before it hit the ground and the only thing he could think of was the old man's umbrella.<p>

"Ooh, you're awesome as ever, Kyuu-san!" Minako praises Kyuu's deductive ability. Megumi, on the other hand, is silent. At first, Minako thinks that the pink girl is bored, but on the contrary, Megumi is genuinely impressed. She calls Kyuu's deductive skills 'Amazing.'

"T-That's the second time I've ever heard a girl say that!" Kyuu excitedly said referring the first time to Dark Magician Girl/Minako.

"Oh, speaking of which," Minako turns her attention to Megumi, "How did you know how much was scattered on the ground?"

"Yeah, how did you? I've been wondering about that," Kyuu adds.

"That's because…" Megumi pauses for a while as she looks above the night sky.  
>"I remembered it."<p>

"Eh?" Both Kyuu and Minako said simultaneously with blank faces.  
>"Do you know what a 'photographic memory' is?" Megumi asks but the two doesn't know what it means. She explains that it's the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision even if it's just for a second. Megumi Minami was born with that gift.<p>

"Wow…" Both Kyuu and Minako also said simultaneously. They're both amazed to learn about Megumi's photographic memory.

Megumi looks at the two and asks, "Oh, by the way. Are you two related?"  
>"U-Us?" Kyuu points his index finger beneath his chin while Minako remains silent. "Well, we're not really family, we're just friends," Minako kindly replies to Megumi.<p>

"Oh, sorry about it," Megumi apologetically said while she bows her head, "It's just that you two act a bit similar." The boy just shrugs while looking at Megumi.

"So you live alone by yourself?" Kyuu asks.  
>"Yeah, my sister went to Jakarta, but she'll be back next week. But…" Megu looks down with an anxious expression, "Have you heard about those gruesome murders? Tokyo's been getting dangerous lately; I'm a bit scared alone."<p>

"Mur… Ders?" Kyuu realizes that Megumi is talking about the Nighttime Murders and the recent murders.

Before Kyuu can react with Megumi's fear of the gruesome murders, Minako sees something over at a building that is under construction. The blonde-haired girl points at the crane on top of the building. It is a figure of a man waving his hand while holding a flashlight, the kids notice that the way man waves his arm is as if he's waving goodbye.

The figure suddenly drops itself plummeting to the ground below!

"H-He jumped!"  
>"No way!"<p>

The girls and the boy are shocked to see the man-like figure seemingly commit suicide.  
>Kyuu doesn't waste much time as he rushes toward to the building as the girls follow him.<p>

The three kids run across the streets while avoiding the cars.  
>As they run through the streets, Kyuu almost is hit by a large man with ponytailed hair and slanted eyes that's riding a bicycle. The man manages to halt his bicycle in time, "S-Sorry about it!" Kyuu yells as he and the girls head toward the construction site.<p>

"H-Hey!" The man with the slanted eyes angrily yells back.  
>"What the hell are they doing?" the man wonders as he decides to follow the three kids.<p>

**Construction Site**

Kyuu, Dark Magician Girl/Minako, and Megumi arrive at the front yard where the figure lands.

"There he is!" Minako yells when she points at someone lying on the ground. The ponytailed man soon arrives at the scene too demanding to know why the three kids are in such a hurry. Kyuu explains to the ponytailed man that someone jumped off the building.

The large man sees the body on the ground, so he runs toward to the body.

As you expect it, the man is already dead. His heart has stopped beating and there are no life signs in his body. Kyuu, Minako, and Megumi decide to look at the body. To their surprise, the dead person is actually the old man whom they met earlier!

"H-Hey, it's that…"  
>"N-No way…"<br>"I-It's him…"

The three is stunned to see the old man's body as the tall man tells the boy and the girls to calm down and call the police. However, before they can do so, a woman with long, brown hair wearing glasses approaches the body. The woman has already called the police using her cell phone.

"Did you four see it too?" the woman asks.

The spotlights are suddenly turned on.  
>The rest of the employees arrive at the scene of the crime. "I knew it! Someone fell!" One of the workers yells as they quickly approach the body. The workers instantly recognize the old man calling him by his name: Nakajima.<p>

-/-

The police arrive at the scene of the crime.

Some of the police are investigating the body and the building while the rest are questioning the witnesses. Among them are Kyuu, his Tsukumogami in disguise, Megumi, the long brown-haired woman, and the slanted eyes man who is actually _**Kinta**_.

"Yes, I saw a figure jump off the crane, so I rushed over to the office to call the staff," one of the witnesses, the Construction Superintendent _Hitoshi Shinoda_, explains to the police.

"Yeah, I happened to drop by the office on the way home," a Construction worker named _Masao Kizaki_ also explains.

"Me too, I'm assisting with the interior design. I came to make a preliminary inspection today," the long brown-haired woman who is actually a Designer named _Misao Kurihara_.

With all the testimonies from the witnesses and no further evidences, the police decide that confirm it as suicide. Kyuu can't believe that the old man has committed suicide as he hears some of the workers gossiping.

"Suicide, huh? Great, he just had to do it on our site!"  
>"Nakajima was always complaining, maybe he got tired of living."<p>

The boy is silent.

When the police is about to dismiss the witnesses, Minako suddenly tells them to wait.  
>"Sirs… I'm afraid I can't believe that this was a suicide," Minako said to the police much to everyone's surprise. Kyuu, on the other hand, isn't surprise at all but he has a feeling that she is going to say it. The Tsukumogami girl soon turns her head around to look at Kyuu and Megumi. Both Kyuu and Megumi nod in response.<p>

"Huh? What do you mean?" the detective asks.  
>Minako holds both Kyuu and Megumi by their arms and said, "You see, the three of us… We met him not an hour ago."<p>

"It was by accident," Megumi adds.

"He said that his daughter was getting married in Hokkaido tomorrow. He went to go buy a ticket. I… I just don't think that he'd go and kill himself!" Minako explains to the detective.

The detective calls one of his men and tells his subordinate to check it.

"But if it wasn't suicide… Was it murder?" The chief thought.

The slightly thought of murder causes all the witnesses to become anxious as they think that one of them is a murderer. Shinoda thinks that Kizaki might be a primary suspect since the worker had a fight with the victim this morning. Shinoda even heard that Kizaki yelled 'You'll pay for this!' The construction worker claims that it's because the old man was complaining about his style of work.

Kizaki thinks that Shinoda is the primary suspect since the Superintendent actually has a motive. Shinoda always want to fire the old man, but the Superintendent defends himself by saying that he thought that the work was too rough for Nakajima due to his age, so Shinoda suggested that the old man should find another job that's suitable for him in his age.

The detective then turns his attention to the female designer, Kurihara, and asks her about her reasons to come to the site at this late. As she had said earlier, she wanted to make a preliminary inspection.

"Listen, detective. It must have taken 4 or 5 minutes after Nakajima-san fell for us to get here," Kizaki said to the detective as he looks above the building, "This building has no stairs yet, so you have to use the elevator but it's really slow. It takes at least 10 minutes to get to the roof in the elevator."

"Hehe, that means it was impossible for us to have killed him," Kizaki smirks.

"_It takes… At least 10 minutes…"_ Kyuu thought in his mind while looking at the top of the building.

The detective's subordinate eventually arrives and reports that a train ticket to Hokkaido is found in the victim's pocket.

"Huh, so it's not going to be ruled a suicide?" Kizaki asks.  
>"Well, I saw it. He pointed the flashlight at the sky and waved it in a circle. It must have been suicide!" Shinoda said to the police.<p>

"_W-What?"_ Kyuu stares at the Superintendent. Something that Shinoda has said bothers the boy.

The detective will look at this case as an accident or a murder, but the police need the witnesses' contact information in case they need them to solve the case.

As everyone writes down their contact information, Minako, who is writing down her contact information with Megumi and Kinta next to her, pays close attention to the three staffs and notice that Kurihara and Kizaki are rather calm in writing theirs while Shinoda is closing his left eye."It takes 10 minutes to get down from the roof… That means they all have an alibi, right?" Minako asks as Megumi nods.

"So what do you think, Kyuu?" Megumi asks until she realizes that the detective fanatic isn't among them!

"H-Hey, look! Over there!" Kinta shouts when he sees Kyuu is at the elevator! The boy is using the elevator to get to the rooftop of the constructed building! "Detective, sorry, but I'm borrowing this for a little bit!" Kyuu yells with a cheerful tone while waving his arm.

Minako sighs in shame as the others stare wide-eyes at the boy.

_10 minutes later…_

The elevator finally made it to the rooftop much to Kyuu's chagrin.

"…This is really slow…" Kyuu mutters in annoyance.

The boy makes his way to the crane as the people below watch him. They're getting even more worried for Kyuu's safety when he walks on the crane. "H-Hey! That's dangerous! Get down from there!" the detective shouts, but Kyuu ignores the police as he lowers his body and crawls through the crane.

The boy eventually reaches the near end of the crane and he discovers something tied up on the crane. It appears to some kind of rope, but for some reason, the boy can tell that it's not really a rope upon further inspection. "…This is it! I see!" Kyuu yells in excitement as he quickly makes his way back to the elevator.

"Everyone! This case is neither a suicide nor an accident! It's a murder!" Kyuu shouts which surprises everyone below especially Kinta. "The perpetrator is here among us!" Kyuu shouts again.

"W-What? What kind of bullshit is that brat talking about?" Kizaki asks with a nervous glance.  
>"Y-Yeah, I don't get it at all," Shinoda adds with a terrified expression.<p>

Kyuu explains that there are two hints in the following:  
>- the flashlight the victim was waving<br>- the 'rope' that's tied to the crane

Unfortunately, Kyuu doesn't have enough evidence to prove his theory yet. Therefore, the boy asks the police if he can have a little time to investigate for the evidence. The detective doesn't agree with the boy's demand and he orders Kyuu to get down now and leave it to the police.

Minako can only watch her Master in amazement.  
>The Dark Magician Girl has no idea that her Master's deductive skills are much sharper than she thought. The blonde-haired girl relieves that the old man didn't commit suicide, but the murderer is still at large. From the way the crime is committed, it surely isn't the work of a Summoner.<p>

Dark Magician Girl/Minako decides to help her Master to solve this new murder case.

-/-

The police dismiss the rest of the witnesses until further notice.  
>Kyuu and Minako, on the other hand, want to stay at the construction site to search for the evidence.<p>

Much to the detective's chagrin, the two kids are too stubborn to leave the scene of the crime especially Kyuu. With no other choice, the detective allows them to search for the evidence, but if they haven't find it until midnight, they will have to leave.

It has been nearly an hour and the two are still searching on the front yard where they found the body. The detective watches the two kids as one of his subordinates asks his superior if he really believes what the boy had said. The detective denies it, but he said that there's something about the kid's eyes that make him different that other kids he'd met.

"…Kyuu-san," Minako calls her Master while she's searching on the left side of Kyuu's position, "It's something small, isn't it?" Kyuu nods in response.

When the police finally leave the site, Megumi enters the site and finds both Kyuu and Minako searching around the front yard. Luckily, Megumi has brought a flashlight with her. She approaches the two and points her flashlight on the right side of Kyuu's position, which catches the attention of both Kyuu and Minako.

"M-Megumi-san," Minako is rather surprised to see the pink-haired girl again.  
>"I don't know what you're looking for, but it'll be hard to find it by yourselves," Megumi said to the two.<p>

"So let me help you," Megumi approaches the two until they hear someone else's voice.

"This looks fun," the voice calls out who turns out to be Kinta.  
>"Oh, it's the slanted eyes man," Minako points out toward the tall man, Kinta.<br>"O-Oi, M-Minako-san! Don't call me that!" Kinta nervously yells at the blonde girl while both Kyuu and Megumi chuckle.

"Thank you, both of you," Kyuu gratefully said to Megumi and Kinta for their help.

"Huh? Hey, what happened to the detective?" the detective fanatic notices that the police detective isn't there watching them. "I didn't see him," Kinta explains to the boy, "Anyway, let's do it!"

With Megumi's flashlight, their search will get even easier.  
>The group begins to search for any evidence that might support Kyuu's theory to uncover the identity of the murderer. Unknown to them, the mysterious woman Misao Kurihara is watching them from the shadows of the building…<p>

For ten minutes, they still haven't found it.  
>As Kyuu searches to the right, he eventually finds something shining in the ground!<p>

"I found it!"

All the sudden, a water hose is turned on! The hose sprays water on the four teens and the ground. _"N-No! The water's gonna wash away the evidence!" _Minako quickly dashes to the area where Kyuu was pointing. The blonde-haired girl manages to get the thing on the ground and she moves closer to Kyuu showing it to him.

"…Yeah, this is it," Kyuu whispers at the Tsukumogami girl just as Kinta turns off the hose.  
>"Why's this hose…" Kinta utters before a sudden silence.<p>

"…Why don't you come out?" Kyuu suddenly said as he stands up with Minako. Megumi is also behind the two.

"I know you're there," Kyuu turns his attention on a dark corner of the constructed building. Both Kinta and Minako notice a shadowy figure of a human hiding within the shadows. "He waved the flashlight in circles from the top of the building. He got people's attention and jumped off. Of course, anyone watching would think it was suicide, wouldn't they? Besides, once you mingled with the witnesses that ran to the site even if it's investigated as a murder, the slow elevator gives you a perfect way out."

"It was a nice trick to establish an alibi… The murderer is you…"  
>Kyuu points at the shadowy figure…<br>"Hitoshi Shinoda!"

The shadowy figure, who is actually the Superintendent, Shinoda, emerges from the shadows. There's something different with him, the Superintendent is now wearing glasses. "Wait a minute, I don't know what you're talking about, but I didn't want the employees to see the blood on the ground so I was going to wash it away. I didn't know you guys were still here," Shinoda explains to the four teens.

"And besides, you kids saw how Nakajima jumped off, right? He pointed the flashlight toward the sky and waved it in circles. And then…" Before Shinoda finishes his explanation, Kyuu cuts off his dialogue and points out that the Superintendent has said it again.

"How do you know that he pointed the flashlight toward the sky and waved it in circles?" Kyuu asks Shinoda.

This definitely raises the question since the old man, Nakajima, was on the top of the building. It was rather far too. From Kyuu's point of view when he saw the victim on the top, it looked like the victim was swinging it side-to-side.

Now how does Shinoda knows that the victim pointed it toward the sky and waved it in circles?  
>The only conclusion that Shinoda knows that the victim pointed it toward the sky and waved it in circles is Shinoda himself was the one doing it.<p>

Shinoda is shocked as an anxious look is written all over his face.  
>Kyuu explains about the rope that he'd found tied on the crane. It's not just a rope at all, but there's also a rubber cord tied on rope as well. It other words, what they saw was not just a jump, but a bungee jump made to look like a jump to one's death!<p>

To make it simple: Shinoda called Nakajima to the roof and pushed off from the building. The Superintendent then climbed up on the crane and waved the flashlight, so people who were down on the ground would know that he was going to jump. When Shinoda did jump down to the ground, the rubber cord that was tied on his leg saved him from the fall and he used the extra rope to get down on the ground safely. When the cord lost his weight, it snapped back to the top of the crane. Even if the rope were hanging from the crane, no one would figure it out.

Kyuu's theory surprises his Tsukumogami and the other two humans.  
><em>"…I see! That does make sense!"<em> Minako holds her hand that contains the 'evidence' more tight.

"…That's an interesting story," the Superintendent said as he slowly walks backward, "But it's all based on conjecture."

"Yes, but a little while ago, when you heard what I said, you remembered the evidence you left at the site and tried to get rid of it by washing it away," Kyuu said again to the suspect as he points at the hose.

"E-Evidence?" Shinoda nervously chuckles as Minako suddenly steps forward.  
>"Yes… I managed to get this on time!" Minako opens her hand revealing the solid evidence: a <span>contact lens<span>!

"The contact lens that fell out during the bungee jump!"

"Thanks to Kyuu-san, now I realize who the culprit is," Minako points her other hand at Shinoda, "I notice when you were writing down your information, you closed your left eye and you seemed have a hard time reading! Without one of your contact lens, it's going to be hard to write!"

"Yup, and if the police examine this contact lens, a DNA test will prove that it's yours," Kyuu said to the real culprit, Shinoda.

"…It was a mistake to think of you as just another kid. I underestimated you," Shinoda utters with a grin as he suddenly takes out a knife from his pocket! "Now give it back to me!"

Just before Shinoda can attack Minako to retrieve his contact lens, Kinta suddenly moves toward the culprit and disarms the knife from the culprit's hand followed by a punch on his hand. The Superintendent quickly backs away from the tall man.

"Kendo… Judo… Karate… 10 dan in all!" Kinta suddenly poses a fighter's defensive stance… In style!  
>"DON'T UNDERRESTIMATE TOUYAMA KINTARO-SAMA!"<p>

"D-Dammit!" Shinoda attempts to flee from them. To everyone's surprise, Minako is right in front of him! The blonde-haired girl places her index finger on the man's abdomen and it paralyzes the culprit. Minako then performs an over-the-shoulder arm throw sending the culprit crashing to the ground.

Kinta is clearly surprised to see that Minako is unexpectedly strong that she easily throws Shinoda to the ground. "…Wow, you go, girl," Kinta said as a compliment to Minako, which she finds it flattering.

As both Kinta and Minako apprehend the killer, Kurihara eventually approaches them from out nowhere. The mysterious woman moves toward Shinoda. "Oh, Kurihara-san," Megumi calls the woman's name as the woman bows her head, "Thank you for capturing him. You can leave it to us," The woman said to the four teens as she turns her attention on Shinoda.

"Shinoda-san, you are accused of using your position as site superintendent to divert money and embezzle funds."

"Nakajima was the one who told the owner the truth, wasn't he?" Kurihara asks.  
>"I couldn't forgive him!" Shinoda angrily retorts as he struggles to break free, but Kinta's and Minako's strengths are too much for him to handle, "He acted all righteous and ratted me out!"<p>

"…You killed him… Because of that?" Kyuu utters before a sudden silence take over the scene…

"Detective Arai, I'll leave the rest to you," the woman suddenly calls out the police detective and his subordinates that are also with Kurihara. The detective's subordinates immediately apprehend Shinoda even though he's still paralyzed. "Shinoda Hitoshi, you're under arrest for the murder of Yoshio Nakajima-san. Take him away," the detective orders his men to handcuff the culprit and take him to the station.

The detective turns his attention to Misao Kurihara and salutes her, "I appreciate your help with the investigation."  
>"Good work, Detective Arai," the woman responds with a smile.<p>

The detective excuses himself as he walks his way out of the site and joins up with the rest of his subordinates.

"All of you," Kurihara turns her attention to the four teenagers Kyuu, Minako, Megumi, and Kinta, "Thanks to all of you, the investigation is complete. Thank you very much."

"Umm… Who are you?" Megumi asks.  
>"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm a detective hired by the owner to conduct a top-secret investigation," the woman kindly replies. Misao Kurihara is actually <em><strong>Katagiri Shino<strong>_, a teacher from DDS.

D-DDS!"  
>"That's why the police were…"<p>

Both Kinta and Megumi are shocked to learn Kurihara's identity though Kyuu and Minako have no idea about 'DDS.'

Megumi explains to the two that DDS stands for 'Dan Detective School,' a real detective school in Japan where students are allowed to carry a gun. It was founded by a famous detective named Dan Morihiko.

"W-Whoa! A detective school?" Kyuu asks with a shocked, yet happy expression.

"The police trust DDS completely. Its students sometimes help solve important cases," Kinta explains to Kyuu and Minako.

"Wait a minute… How did you two know so much about it?" Minako kindly asks.  
>"Because I want to go to DDS," Megumi and Kinta simultaneously answer.<p>

Now Kyuu is truly speechless…  
>He always dreams that of something about detectives including a detective school and now it is a reality. Kyuu eagerly wants to join DDS too, but it's not going to be easy to get into DDS since many people that try to enter the detective school have failed and only a few have entered.<p>

The woman Shino Katagiri, feeling grateful toward the kids for their help, decides to give them a guide for the enrollment exams that will be held next week. She encourages the kids to try to take the exams as she has a strong feeling that they may do well in the enrollment exams.

Kyuu, Megumi, and Kinta decide that they will take the exams.

Dark Magician Girl/Minako is rather reluctant about it because of the Tsukumogami War and the real dangers of becoming a detective. When Megumi asks if Minako is going to take the exams too, she kindly said that she needs time to think about it.

"…_Master…"_

-/-

At the other side of the Construction Site is a large building.

The shadowy figure and the large robot-like figure (the same figures that killed both thugs at the bridge last night) stand at the rooftop. They're both watching the Construction Site and observe the entire scenario.

"Huh, a culprit that got captured by four teenagers. What a joke," the robotic figure said in a mocking fashion.

The shadowy human watches the group using a telescope. The unknown Summoner's main focus is Kyuu and Minako. Not to mention, the guide paper that Kyuu is holding. He notices that something is different with those two from their skills, the boy's amazing deductive skills and the girl's unusual strength and ability to 'paralyze' the culprit.

"…Well, this should be interesting," the unknown Summoner said as he puts down his telescope, "I think that kid's a Summoner… And that cute little girl's probably his Tsukumogami in disguise."

"So?" The robotic figure asks.  
>"It looks like they want to enter DDS. And here, I thought I would find 'him' and I find a Summoner kid instead," the shadowy man said as a witty remark.<p>

"Well… Looks like we're going to have some fun at the Enrollment Exams."

_**To be continued…**_

**A/N: **The end of the second arc's first chapter. This chapter is mostly based on the first episode of Tantei Gakuen Q's anime although I add some new scenes as well.

After learning the existence of a detective school, Kyuu wants to enter the school with Dark Magician Girl who actually wants to enter so she can keep her eyes on her 'Master.' However, how will his mother respond to this?

The characters **Megumi Minami**, **Kintaro Touyama**, and **Shino Katagiri** are from Tantei Gakuen Q while the other characters **Yoshio** **Nakajima**, **Detective Arai**, **Hitoshi Shinoda**,and**Masao Kizaki** appear only in the anime.


End file.
